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ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL LAW IN CYPRUS EXPECTED TO INCREASE TENSIONS WITH TURKEY
International Business Times
April 2 2015
By Cristina Silva
The Cypriot Parliament passed a resolution Thursday outlawing the
denial of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The move to
make it a crime to deny that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against
the Armenians a century ago is expected to increase tensions with
longtime enemy Turkey amid stalled peace talks between the two nations.
"Today is a historic day," Speaker of Parliament Yiannakis Omirou
said, according to Reuters. "It allows Parliament to restore, with
unanimous decisions and resolutions, historical truths."
The Greek-dominated part of Cyprus was one of the first countries to
recognize the Armenian killings as genocide. It is commemorated on
April 24, the anniversary of the murder of Armenian leaders in 1915.
Turkey recognizes that many Armenians died during World War I but
denies that the deaths resulted from genocide. Armenians and their
supporters accuse Ottoman leaders of systematically massacring 1.5
million Armenians and deporting many more.
Debate over what happened has long been a source of tension between
Turkey and other nations, including Cyprus, which has a significant
Armenian population. Since invading in 1974, the Turks have occupied
northern Cyprus, where they set up a "Turkish republic" recognized
by no other country.
United Nations officials are slated to visit Cyprus next week for peace
talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders on the long-stalemated
conflict. Espen Barth Eide, the U.N.
secretary-general's special adviser on Cyprus, will "follow up on the
encouraging indications received during his last trip to the island
regarding a possible resumption of the negotiations," U.N. spokesman
Farhan Haq told reporters in New York this week. "Maybe we can take
some optimism and say that we will not only be back on track but
actually we may be able to accelerate the talks and have a faster
process than we originally lacked."
http://www.ibtimes.com/armenian-genocide-denial-law-cyprus-expected-increase-tensions-turkey-1867718
From: A. Papazian
International Business Times
April 2 2015
By Cristina Silva
The Cypriot Parliament passed a resolution Thursday outlawing the
denial of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The move to
make it a crime to deny that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against
the Armenians a century ago is expected to increase tensions with
longtime enemy Turkey amid stalled peace talks between the two nations.
"Today is a historic day," Speaker of Parliament Yiannakis Omirou
said, according to Reuters. "It allows Parliament to restore, with
unanimous decisions and resolutions, historical truths."
The Greek-dominated part of Cyprus was one of the first countries to
recognize the Armenian killings as genocide. It is commemorated on
April 24, the anniversary of the murder of Armenian leaders in 1915.
Turkey recognizes that many Armenians died during World War I but
denies that the deaths resulted from genocide. Armenians and their
supporters accuse Ottoman leaders of systematically massacring 1.5
million Armenians and deporting many more.
Debate over what happened has long been a source of tension between
Turkey and other nations, including Cyprus, which has a significant
Armenian population. Since invading in 1974, the Turks have occupied
northern Cyprus, where they set up a "Turkish republic" recognized
by no other country.
United Nations officials are slated to visit Cyprus next week for peace
talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders on the long-stalemated
conflict. Espen Barth Eide, the U.N.
secretary-general's special adviser on Cyprus, will "follow up on the
encouraging indications received during his last trip to the island
regarding a possible resumption of the negotiations," U.N. spokesman
Farhan Haq told reporters in New York this week. "Maybe we can take
some optimism and say that we will not only be back on track but
actually we may be able to accelerate the talks and have a faster
process than we originally lacked."
http://www.ibtimes.com/armenian-genocide-denial-law-cyprus-expected-increase-tensions-turkey-1867718
From: A. Papazian