It is not enough that the Government of Turkey thinks it can hide its history from its own people. Now, they have taken their campaign of cover-up and distortion to such lengths that they will prevent an exhibition on Genocide entitled “Lessons from Rwanda.”

This UK-based AEGIS Trust NGO-sponsored exhibition on the horrors of Rwanda, at the United Nations in New York, is being postponed because the Turks object to a sentence that refers to Armenians being killed and to Raphael Lemkin’s conclusion that such large-scale and pre-meditated slaughter amounted to Genocide.

Raphael Lemkin’s work is part of the international record, and of world history. It is unacceptable that a UN member-state, committed to world peace, dares to export such intolerance to the United Nations. Armenia cannot accept that the history of the world, the current experiences of suffering of the people of Rwanda, of Darfur, and Armenians’ memories of injustice are subjected to such callous, cynical dismissal.

It is ironic and shameful that this Turkish-led postponement should befall an event which was to provide lessons on how to respect human rights and prevent genocides. Instead, the lesson here is one of total disrespect for history and memory.