The Armenian community of Argentina has already created a community committee that will determine and organize the political, religious, cultural and academic events ahead of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide

In an interview with “ArmenPress”, Professor of International Relations at San Andres University of Buenos Aires Khatchik Der Ghougassian stressed the fact that the goal of the events is to start a large-scale advocacy campaign to raise public awareness about the Armenian Genocide throughout the year, taking into consideration the fact that Argentina will be electing a new president in 2015.

“In addition to the main events, community organizations will also organize events in other Armenia-populated cities across the country. The Argentinean-Armenian community has proposed to the central committee to include in the list of events the placement of plaques named after Presidents Raul Alfonzin and Nestor Kirchner as a token of appreciation to the first president for publicly recognizing the Armenian Genocide in 1987 and a token of appreciation to the second president for passing the law on Armenian Genocide recognition that was submitted to the Parliament of Argentina in 2006. The proposal has been accepted, and so we must make great efforts. Our goal is to have the Argentinean delegation take part in the official events dedicated to the Centennial,” Khatchik Der Ghougassian said.

The Argentinean-Armenian community will also closely follow Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s attempts to deny the genocide and will try to counterattack them. According to Khatchik Der Ghougassian, the Argentinean society knows about the Armenian Genocide, condemns it and supports the Armenian people, and that’s exactly the reason why the Turks and Azerbaijanis have reinforced their propaganda recently. “The diplomatic representation of Baku is working seriously and consistently to recognize Khojalu as “Genocide”. Azerbaijan is working actively in spreading propaganda among social and political circles. Therefore, we, as a community and nation, must work constantly. If not, their money and contributions can cause a serious blow to our efforts for international recognition of the Armenian Genocide,” Khatchik Der Ghougassian said.

According to him, one of the best events dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide will be the opening of the Armenian Genocide Museum in Buenos Aires. Although it’s still unclear as to when construction will end, but the goal is to not only have the museum open its doors in 2015, but also to organize the first exhibition.

Touching upon RA President Serzh Sargsyan’s initiative to invite Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan to Yerevan on 24 April 2015, Khatchik Der Ghougassian viewed that as a daring challenge and a smart response to the “condolence” that Erdogan express in April 2014, which is a new strategy for “soft” denial of the Genocide, particularly targeted at the public opinion of the international community.