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ARMENIA MAKES CENTENARY CALL FOR TURKEY TO RECOGNISE 1915 KILLINGS AS GENOCIDE
Centenary News, UK
Feb 9 2015
Posted on centenarynews.com on 09 February 2015
Armenia issued a Centenary declaration on January 29th 2015, repeating
demands for Turkey to recognise the killing of Armenians during the
First World War as genocide.
President Serzh Sargsyan read the 'Pan-Armenian Declaration on
the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide' during a ceremony at the
Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in the capital, Yerevan.
The 12-point document calls on the Republic of Turkey to "recognise
and condemn the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire."
It declares the 100th anniversary to be an "important milestone in
the ongoing struggle for historical justice under the motto I remember
and demand."
Turkey, successor state to the Ottoman Empire, strongly denies that
genocide took place.
The dispute remains one of the most bitter legacies of the First
World War.
Estimates of the numbers of Armenians who were killed or died
following the deportations ordered in May 1915 vary widely, from
500,000 to 1,500,000.
Turkish Government
But the Turkish Government says "no authentic evidence exists to
support the claim that there was a premeditated plan by the Ottoman
Government to kill off Armenians."
It insists that the aim was to move the Armenian population away from
the war zone, and the advancing Russian Army, to southern provinces
of the empire.
The Pan-Armenian Declaration was adopted unanimously at a meeting
of the 'State Commission on Coordination of the events for the
commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.'
It expresses the 'united will of Armenia and the Armenian people to
achieve worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide.'
A copy has been sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Ban-Ki Moon. Genocide was formally declared to be a crime under
international law in a UN convention adopted in 1948. It's defined
as 'acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part,
a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.'
Turkey says a joint commission of historians should be established
to study what it calls 'the events of 1915,' but the call has been
rejected in Yerevan.
Click on the link for the full text of the Pan-Armenian Declaration.
A statement of Turkey's position can be found on the Turkish Ministry
of Foreign Affairs website.
Further reading is also available here in a Centenary News article
from May 2014
Sources: Armenian Government; Turkish Government
Images courtesy of President of Armenia's Office
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News
http://www.centenarynews.com/article?id=3211
Centenary News, UK
Feb 9 2015
Posted on centenarynews.com on 09 February 2015
Armenia issued a Centenary declaration on January 29th 2015, repeating
demands for Turkey to recognise the killing of Armenians during the
First World War as genocide.
President Serzh Sargsyan read the 'Pan-Armenian Declaration on
the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide' during a ceremony at the
Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in the capital, Yerevan.
The 12-point document calls on the Republic of Turkey to "recognise
and condemn the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire."
It declares the 100th anniversary to be an "important milestone in
the ongoing struggle for historical justice under the motto I remember
and demand."
Turkey, successor state to the Ottoman Empire, strongly denies that
genocide took place.
The dispute remains one of the most bitter legacies of the First
World War.
Estimates of the numbers of Armenians who were killed or died
following the deportations ordered in May 1915 vary widely, from
500,000 to 1,500,000.
Turkish Government
But the Turkish Government says "no authentic evidence exists to
support the claim that there was a premeditated plan by the Ottoman
Government to kill off Armenians."
It insists that the aim was to move the Armenian population away from
the war zone, and the advancing Russian Army, to southern provinces
of the empire.
The Pan-Armenian Declaration was adopted unanimously at a meeting
of the 'State Commission on Coordination of the events for the
commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.'
It expresses the 'united will of Armenia and the Armenian people to
achieve worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide.'
A copy has been sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Ban-Ki Moon. Genocide was formally declared to be a crime under
international law in a UN convention adopted in 1948. It's defined
as 'acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part,
a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.'
Turkey says a joint commission of historians should be established
to study what it calls 'the events of 1915,' but the call has been
rejected in Yerevan.
Click on the link for the full text of the Pan-Armenian Declaration.
A statement of Turkey's position can be found on the Turkish Ministry
of Foreign Affairs website.
Further reading is also available here in a Centenary News article
from May 2014
Sources: Armenian Government; Turkish Government
Images courtesy of President of Armenia's Office
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News
http://www.centenarynews.com/article?id=3211