Italy’s Rai Storia TV has prepared a story devoted to the Armenian Genocide, Artsakhpress reports.

During the program called “100 Seconds…Back”, teacher of the history of political sciences Alessandro Ciampi talks about the Armenian massacres, Turkey’s policy of denial and that country’s problem with EU integration.

“What’s shocking about the tragic story of the Armenian Genocide is not only the large number of victims (nearly 2 million), but also Turkey’s persistence by which it still doesn’t want to hear about or recognize the Armenian Genocide,” the host mentions, adding that even today, talking about the Armenian Genocide in Turkey is considered a crime, or an assault against national unity.

Many Turkish writers and intellectuals have been persecuted and sentenced for that, and some have been exiled. Among those people are Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk. It is mentioned that France currently wants to introduce a draft law criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide, while U.S. President Barack Obama has clearly spoken about the tragedy, which has filled Turkish diplomats with indignation.

According to the host, the Armenian Genocide is of great political significance for Turkey in that the country wants to join the European community. “Let us recall that the European Union was created by subjecting the totalitarian regimes of the past to refinement. Each European country, starting from Germany, has assumed liability for the acts committed during the massacres of the Jews. The former Communist states that joined the EU have also overcome the totalitarian pretensions of the Soviet Union, each assuming liability for its acts. If Europe is preparing to accept Turkey, it has to make the latter assume liability in front of the international community,” Alessandro Ciampi emphasized.