Armenia welcomes Austrian lawmakers for condemning as "genocide" the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
22.04.2015,
18:05
Armenia welcomed today Austrian lawmakers for condemning as "genocide" for the first time the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I, ahead of the massacre's 100th anniversary marked April 24.
YEREVAN, April 22. / ARKA /. Armenia welcomed today Austrian lawmakers for condemning as "genocide" for the first time the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I, ahead of the massacre's 100th anniversary marked April 24.
"Armenia welcomes the declaration adopted by Austria's highest lawmaking body on the genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians," Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in a statement.
"With this step, Austria has made a serious contribution to the noble task of preventing genocides and crimes against humanity," he said
Along with the parliamentary acknowledgement of the genocide, the leaders of Austria's six major parties also released a statement saying that the country, as a former ally to the Ottoman Empire, had a "duty to recognize and condemn these horrific events as genocide."
"It is Turkey's duty to face the dark and painful chapter of its past and recognize the crimes committed against Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide," the statement read. -0-
