On April 21-22, UN General Assembly held a High-Level Thematic Debate entitled “Tolerance and Reconciliation”, addressing complex challenges of the rise of radicalization and violent extremism, atrocities, identity-based conflicts, cultural and religious tensions. Besides the President of the UN General Assembly, who presided over the session, the debate heard remarks by the UN Secretary-General, President of the Human Rights Council and the High Representative of the Alliance of Civilizations, as well as statements by a large number of high-level government officials of Member States, Permanent Representatives and religious leaders.

Welcoming a continued and consistent pursuit within the United Nations of the ideology of tolerance, dialogue and reconciliation as preconditions for peace, Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanyan noted that racism, religious and cultural intolerance, xenophobia, fragmentation of societies, the rejection and vilification of the other have been at the core of mass violations of human rights, leading to mass atrocities, crimes against humanity, including the crime of genocide. Ambassador Mnatsakanyan noted that the debate is taking place at a time, when a human river will flow to the Memorial for the Victims of the Genocide perpetrated against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago and emphasized that the Armenian genocide is a universal tragedy which reminds, once again, that impunity breeds repetition of crime. According to Armenia’s Permanent Representative, the commemoration of the victims of the Armenian genocide is also an important sign of reaffirmation of people’s collective faith in the fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person - faith enshrined in the very Charter of the United Nations.

Emphasizing that Armenians are not alone in their grief and demand for justice as they enjoy the solidarity of many nations around the world, Ambassador Mnatsakakanyan thanked people of every faith and belief in the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia and elsewhere who sheltered and protected Armenians in the times of the desperation 100 years ago. He has stressed that his people do not bear hatred towards the Turkish people, but a call to address history, to accept history and to pave the way for genuine reconciliation. He further noted the Armenians genocide is not an issue for historians and it is an issue for the present, a political issue, an issue of political courage and leadership to admit the past. He said that without truth and remembrance there cannot be genuine reconciliation. “Justice and reconciliation is the message of Armenia and the Armenian people to this debate”; concluded Ambassador Mnatsakanyan.