• European Parliament Adopts Human Rights Resolution for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide

European Parliament Adopts Human Rights Resolution for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide

15 March 2015

Today, the European Parliament called on EU Member States to recognize the Armenian genocide in the context of the Centenary of the event. It also “encourages the Member States and the EU institutions to contribute further to its recognition”. The call was part of the extensive 2015 resolution on human rights in the world. Among numerous concerns, the resolution, which is 242 paragraphs long, also focuses on the situation of religious minorities in the Middle East, including the Armenians.

 “The European Parliament generally tries to champion human rights in the world”, said Alexis Govciyan, President of AGBU Europe. “We welcome this renewed expression of concern for the recognition of the Armenian genocide.”

 Govciyan added: “it will be important that the EU institutions generally mark the hundredth anniversary of the Armenian genocide this year. The EU values remembrance, and we fully expect the European Commission and Council as well as the Parliament to mark time to remember the first of the 20th Centenary’s great genocides as a testimony to the deadly consequences of the combination between prejudice and authoritarian government.”

 April 24, 2015 will mark 100 years since the Ottoman police arrested hundreds of leading members of the Armenian community in the country. This was the opening move of the Amenian genocide that led to the death of 1.5 million people and to the destruction of the Armenian civilization in its historic heartland. Around the world, countless events will be held in the next few months to commemorate the tragedy. AGBU Europe will also lead an international delegation to Istanbul to commemorate the event in the place where it started.

 AGBU Europe is the European district of the international Armenian organization AGBU. Established in 1906, AGBU (www.agbu.org) is the world’s largest non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the lives of some 400,000 Armenians around the world.AGBU Europe is the European chapter of the organization. It runs numerous programmes in fields relating to academic research, the preservation and promotion of architectural heritage, education and culture as well as awareness raising.

Text of the resolution adopted today

 

For more information:
www.agbueurope.org
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