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MEPS DEBATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DISPUTE
16 April 2015 Last updated at 12:43
MEPs continued their "mini plenary" sitting in Brussels on 15 April
2015 by debating a resolution repeating a call on Turkey to recognise
the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as an act
of genocide.
There is general agreement that hundreds of thousands of Armenians were
killed or died of starvation when the Ottoman Turks deported them en
masse from eastern Anatolia to the Syrian desert and elsewhere during
World War I.
The European Parliament, like a number of EU countries, has recognised
the events as an act of genocide since a 1987 resolution on the
same subject.
However, this is rejected by Turkey - an official EU candidate country
since 1999 - which denies that a systematic attempt to destroy the
Christian Armenian people took place, arguing that it was a civil
war in which there were casualties on both sides.
The resolution, intended to mark upcoming events commemorating the
100th anniversary of the killings, was later passed during the evening
voting session.
Text coverage of the debate can be found on the European Parliament
live page.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/europe-32333787
16 April 2015 Last updated at 12:43
MEPs continued their "mini plenary" sitting in Brussels on 15 April
2015 by debating a resolution repeating a call on Turkey to recognise
the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as an act
of genocide.
There is general agreement that hundreds of thousands of Armenians were
killed or died of starvation when the Ottoman Turks deported them en
masse from eastern Anatolia to the Syrian desert and elsewhere during
World War I.
The European Parliament, like a number of EU countries, has recognised
the events as an act of genocide since a 1987 resolution on the
same subject.
However, this is rejected by Turkey - an official EU candidate country
since 1999 - which denies that a systematic attempt to destroy the
Christian Armenian people took place, arguing that it was a civil
war in which there were casualties on both sides.
The resolution, intended to mark upcoming events commemorating the
100th anniversary of the killings, was later passed during the evening
voting session.
Text coverage of the debate can be found on the European Parliament
live page.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/europe-32333787