Тhe Socialist International Council, meeting in the United Nations headquarters in New York, decided to take action to urge Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide, Asbarez reported.

During the meeting on July 6, SI Secretary General Luis Ayala informed the Council, that for the last two days the SI leadership has been consulting with the SI member parties from Armenia (Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun) and Turkey (CHP, People’s Republican Party) to come to an agreement on the agenda item which was passed on from the last Council meeting in Geneva: “The views of the Socialist International on the issue of the Armenian Genocide, considering its recognition by a number of national parliaments and supranational institutions.”

Ayala later informed the Council that an agreement has been reached and he thanked the SI vice-presidents from Armenia (Mario Nalpatian, ARF-D) and Turkey (Umut Oran, CHP) for their contributions to come to an agreement, which is presented to the Council for adoption.

The SI Secretary General said that on the occasion of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, the Socialist International wants to take action and to organize a hearing or a round table discussion with the participation of member parties both from Turkey and Armenia as well as any other willing SI member party, as well as civil societies and intellectuals from both Armenia and Turkey on the following question: “Would Turkish recognition of the Armenian Genocide allow for genuine reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia?”

Luis Ayala went on to say that the conclusions of the discussion will be distributed worldwide and reported to the next Council of the Socialist International.

The SI Council unanimously adopted the decision.