The appointment of the Turkish diplomat Feridon Sinirlioglu to the position of UN Secretary General raised objections from the Armenian Dashnaktsutyun party.
Its representatives appealed to the Security Council not to support the candidacy of a diplomat whose activity is related to the promotion of Ankara's official position in the events of 1915.
As arguments, the Armenian side cites episodes from his diplomatic career. In 2010, Sinirlioglu participated in Ankara's diplomatic campaign against the American decision recognizing the Armenian Genocide. In February, he prepared for a visit to Washington, where he was supposed to express the concerns of the Turkish side regarding the reference to the document in the House of Representatives.
On October 16, 2020, as Turkey's permanent representative to the United Nations, he signed a letter to the secretary general of the organization. In the document, Ankara claimed that the events of 1915 did not constitute genocide and remained a matter of "legitimate debate".
Against this background, the behavior of Yerevan itself is particularly telling. In March 2025, Nikol Pashinyan, in an interview with Turkish journalists, stated that international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is no longer among the priorities of the republic's foreign policy.
The Armenian authorities explain this position by striving for peace and the normalization of relations with the neighbors. However, Ankara's diplomatic activity on the historical issue has not disappeared. An interesting asymmetry is emerging: Turkey continues to defend its interpretation of the past at the international level, while the Armenian leadership deliberately reduces the importance of this issue in foreign policy.
So the question is not only about Sinirlioglu's candidacy. If Yerevan itself refuses to protect the historical memory at the international level, who should do it instead?