Garry Kasparov: Armenian Genocide is mother of all genocides of 20th century
“Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Like all great acts of evil, it is difficult to face and it must be faced. Evil grows when we shy away from it and refuse to acknowledge it; this we know from history,” Garry Kasparov, former World Chess Champion and Russian opposition figure, wrote on Facebook.
“So we must be honest and we must be brave enough to call evil by its name, especially this, the mother of all genocides of the 20th century.
“In 2002, I wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal calling for Turkey to be admitted to the European Union if a few issues could be resolved. First among them was recognition and full investigation of the Armenian genocide of 1915. It is a great disappointment that this never came to pass. As I wrote then, “Only by incorporating a large Muslim country fully in Western ranks will we be able to call for the final crusade against global terrorism, which is so far smartly wrapping itself with Islamic colors.
“I still hold out hope that this will happen. How can we fight against the many evils present in our world today if we do not have the courage to face an evil whose ghosts are now a century old?” Karparov wrote.