Genocide deniers an existential threat to humanity, says envoy

Rwandas envoy to Turkey, Ambassador Williams Nkurunziza on Tuesday said that Genocide deniers are an existential threat to humanity. The envoy said this as he led the Rwandan Community in Ankara, Turkeys capital, and friends of Rwanda in an event to mark the 24th Commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi. The event held at the Cankaya Municipality Sanatlar Merkezi in Ankara was attended by more than 350 people including Turkish Government officials among them Dr. Alim Tunç and Arzu Erdem. The commemorative event was also attended by Irena Vojáčková-Sollorano, UN Resident Coordinator in Turkey as well as Ambassadors from the DR Congo, Switzerland, Japan, Libya, Benin, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Niger, South Africa, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Djibouti, Cuba and others. In her speech, Vojáčková-Sollorano, noted that this is the time to remember and reflect on the suffering of the survivors, who have shown that reconciliation is possible, even after a tragedy of such monumental proportions. She added: “It is imperative that all nations unite to prevent such atrocities from occurring, and that the international community sends a strong message through the UN to perpetrators that they will be held accountable”. Nkurunziza in his remarks indicated that contrary to claims by genocide deniers, the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda was not a spontaneous reaction to a singular provocative event, rather it was prepared for decades and execution was planned with brute precision with the purpose of extermination of the Tutsi in Rwanda. He further said that during the commemoration period, it is time to honor and cherish the memory of the mothers, the fathers, the grandparents, the brothers, the sisters, the uncles, the in-laws and the children whose lives were snapped up by the inhumanity of their fellow citizens but more importantly to comfort the hundreds of thousands of survivors. He said: “We equally commemorate to affirm the truth of our history and to renew our commitment to building a better future. To do so enhances our unity as a nation. Most importantly, our truth silences the genocide deniers bent on peddling falsehoods to shield their culpability in the genocide against the Tutsi. Truth is the moonlight in the dark night of their falsehoods. The glaring light of truth exposes genocide deniers for what they are: an existentıal threat to our common humanity”. Nkurunziza highlighted that this period reminds of the outstanding acts of courage and human sacrifice as well as the heroism of Rwandas sons and daughters who put their lives on the front line to stop the genocide that a disinterested world had allowed to fester and consume Rwanda and her people. “Indeed, we are collectively inspired by the wisdom of our leaders, especially His Excellency Paul Kagame, who saw possibility where the world saw the improbable. He, and the young men and women who fought with him and gave their lives to stop the genocide against the Tutsi occupy a special place in our hearts. Apart from the official commemoration held Tuesday in Ankara, other commemorative activities will be conducted in different parts of Turkey; mostly public lectures in universities.

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Genocide deniers an existential threat to humanity, says envoy