The Armenian National Assembly pays homage to the memory of the five million victims of crimes against humanity committed by Turkey in 1914-1923, says a statement by Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan.
Late in the 19th and early in the 20th centuries, the Turkish authorities committed acts of genocide against the indigenous population. The criminal program changed the regional demography, and the people’s spiritual and cultural heritage was either destroyed or misappropriated.
The Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides have not been universally recognized, which resulted in a chain of genocides in different parts of the world.
The successors of the Ottoman Turkey authorities have denied the genocides committed by their predecessors, distorting historical facts.
For the sake of historical justice and prevention of new genocides, the Armenian Parliament calls on the world parliaments to recognize the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides committed in Turkey early last century.
The Armenian Parliament is grateful to the international agencies and nations that have recognized the Armenian Genocide, as well as similar tragedies of other peoples.
The Armenian Parliament appeals to Turkey’s executive and legislative powers for removing all the legal and political obstacles to Turkish society’s studying the past, especially the Armenian genocide and Turkey’s responsibility for that crime against humanity.
Armenia, which is consistent in supporting universal recognition of the Armenian Genocide, views it as not only restoration of historical justice, but also a way to build up confidence in the region and prevent similar crimes in the future.
Armenian-Turkish relations cannot be a challenge to the fact of the Armenian Genocide. The progressive mankind must recognize and condemn it, the statement says.
