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BRITISH PARLIAMENTARIAN DEMANDS GOVERNMENT TO RECOGNIZE GENOCIDE OF ARMENIANS
by Ashot Safaryan
ARMINFO
Wednesday, March 25, 10:32
On March 23, the UK House of Commons held an adjournment debate on
the Armenian Genocide centennial. The discussion was led by Labour
Member of Parliament Stephen Pound, according to Asbarez.
"The subject of this Adjournment debate is the commemoration of one
of the most appalling, heinous acts that has ever been committed on
this earth: the Armenian genocide of 23 and 24 April 1915," Stephen
Pound said during the debate. The full text of his speech is below.
According to the MP, it is otiose even to ask the question, 'Was there
genocide?' Yet the question has been asked many times. People have
said there was no genocide in 1915, but to a certain extent that was
not the only genocide. The Armenians-a people of incredible, intense
culture and great sophistication-were assaulted between 1894 and 1896,
when 200,000 people were killed. There was the Adana massacre of
1909, in which 20,000 to 30,000 people were killed. In particular,
leading up to 1915, after the 1912 Balkan wars, refugees from the
Caucasus and Rumelia-they were known as muhacirs-moved from the
south Balkans and the Caucasus into Anatolia. That movement into the
traditional Armenian land, coupled with the aftermath of the battle
of Sarikamish-which took place on 24 December 1914, when the Russians
defeated the Ottoman army-led to a completely different situation
whereby the peaceful Armenian people suddenly found themselves between
different warring factions: on the one hand the Ottoman empire, and
on the other people moving into their land, so they were dispossessed.
The then War Minister, Enver Pasha, demobilised all Armenians from the
army-many of them fought in the Ottoman army-into labour battalions,
and the infamous tehcir law, which is known as the deportation law,
was passed by Talaat Pasha, the Interior Minister."
"At that particular time, the Young Turks had arrived-the Committee of
Union and Progress as they were known-and the massacre commenced in
Istanbul on the night of 23 April. It is impossible to imagine what
it must have been like. Anatolia--western Armenia--was a peaceful
country in which the Armenians had succeeded greatly. They had filled
many posts, not just in the army, but in medicine and law. They were
a peaceful and prosperous people. Just as the upper echelon of Poles
at Katyn were massacred, similarly the upper echelon of Armenians
were taken to slaughter," Pound said in his speech.
According to Soy Armenio newspaper, the Government does not make any
statement on the issue, as UK is an ally of Turkey and Azerbaijan
and implements many projects in the oil sector in those countries.
by Ashot Safaryan
ARMINFO
Wednesday, March 25, 10:32
On March 23, the UK House of Commons held an adjournment debate on
the Armenian Genocide centennial. The discussion was led by Labour
Member of Parliament Stephen Pound, according to Asbarez.
"The subject of this Adjournment debate is the commemoration of one
of the most appalling, heinous acts that has ever been committed on
this earth: the Armenian genocide of 23 and 24 April 1915," Stephen
Pound said during the debate. The full text of his speech is below.
According to the MP, it is otiose even to ask the question, 'Was there
genocide?' Yet the question has been asked many times. People have
said there was no genocide in 1915, but to a certain extent that was
not the only genocide. The Armenians-a people of incredible, intense
culture and great sophistication-were assaulted between 1894 and 1896,
when 200,000 people were killed. There was the Adana massacre of
1909, in which 20,000 to 30,000 people were killed. In particular,
leading up to 1915, after the 1912 Balkan wars, refugees from the
Caucasus and Rumelia-they were known as muhacirs-moved from the
south Balkans and the Caucasus into Anatolia. That movement into the
traditional Armenian land, coupled with the aftermath of the battle
of Sarikamish-which took place on 24 December 1914, when the Russians
defeated the Ottoman army-led to a completely different situation
whereby the peaceful Armenian people suddenly found themselves between
different warring factions: on the one hand the Ottoman empire, and
on the other people moving into their land, so they were dispossessed.
The then War Minister, Enver Pasha, demobilised all Armenians from the
army-many of them fought in the Ottoman army-into labour battalions,
and the infamous tehcir law, which is known as the deportation law,
was passed by Talaat Pasha, the Interior Minister."
"At that particular time, the Young Turks had arrived-the Committee of
Union and Progress as they were known-and the massacre commenced in
Istanbul on the night of 23 April. It is impossible to imagine what
it must have been like. Anatolia--western Armenia--was a peaceful
country in which the Armenians had succeeded greatly. They had filled
many posts, not just in the army, but in medicine and law. They were
a peaceful and prosperous people. Just as the upper echelon of Poles
at Katyn were massacred, similarly the upper echelon of Armenians
were taken to slaughter," Pound said in his speech.
According to Soy Armenio newspaper, the Government does not make any
statement on the issue, as UK is an ally of Turkey and Azerbaijan
and implements many projects in the oil sector in those countries.