Austrian Parliament issues statement on Armenian Genocide

All the six factions of the Austrian Parliament issued a joint statement condemning mass slaughter of Armenians in Ottoman Empire in 2015 and qualifying it as genocide. 

The factions say in their statement that the Genocide has against attracted special public attention after Pope Francis called it the first genocide of the twentieth century and Ankara reacted angrily to that recalling its ambassador from Vatican City. 

It is also pointed out in the statement that a part of historic responsibility for the genocide rests with Austria, since the Austro-Hungarian Empire was an ally to the Ottoman Empire in the World War I. 

In their statement, the Austrian lawmakers mention also genocides of other Christians that lived in Ottoman Empire – Assyrians, Arameans and Pontus Greeks. 

On April 15, the European Parliament passed a resolution on Armenian Genocide. 

The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the twentieth century. 

According to Armenian and many other historians, up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed starting in 1915 in a systematic campaign by the government of Turkey. 

Turkey has been denying it for decades. The Armenian Genocide was recognized by tens of countries. 

The first was Uruguay that did so in 1965. Other nations are Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, 43 U.S. states. It was recognized also by the Vatican, the European Parliament, the World Council of Churches and other international organizations. ---0-----