We must not turn away from the pain, anger, and mourning where we also find hope in response: Michel de Maegd on Armenian Genocide

Michel de Maegd, a member of the Belgian House of Representatives, addressing the Armenian Genocide in an interview with Armenpress’ Brussels correspondent, said that 110 years ago, an entire people were massacred by the Ottoman Empire simply for their identity, a people who are the bearers of a unique culture, faith, and heritage.

“It took the world many years to acknowledge what had long been written in history in bloody letters. It was a genocide the first genocide of the 20th century,” Michel de Maegd told Armenpress.

The Belgian politician is convinced that if some have tried to deny the Armenian Genocide, to silence it, or to erase it from textbooks and the consciousness of humanity, it is because such crimes are not only tragedies, but also warnings: a warning against forgetting, a warning against trivializing hatred, and a warning against the logic of tyranny, which is repeated from century to century, from continent to continent. “We have no right to remain silent. We must not turn away from the pain, anger, and mourning where we also find hope in response: a hope for a future where memory is no longer a burden but a strength. It is also the hope of the youth, who create and build all over the world,” de Maegd said.

The Belgian MP stressed that even today, Armenia is in danger, under threat from a neighboring country that refuses peace and continues its policy of intimidation, humiliation, and oppression.

“Nagorno-Karabakh has been depopulated by Azerbaijan: thousands of displaced people, destroyed families. Political prisoners are still being held in Baku today. Blackmail diplomacy is being carried out, where energy is turned into a tool for silencing criticism,” de Maegd noted.