September 20, 2016 - 10:57 AMT
Andean Parliament recognizes Armenian Genocide

The Andean Parliament, a legislative body composed of representatives of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile, approved on Saturday, September 17 a resolution recognizing the "Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire between the years 1915-1923" and condemning "any policy of denial with respect to genocide and crimes against humanity suffered by the Armenian nation," Prensa Armenia reports.

Bolivia passed an Armenian Genocide-recognizing resolution, approved unanimously by both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, with the approval of the Foreign Ministry in 2014.

The Chamber of Deputies of Chile passed in 2015 a resolution to express “solidarity with the Armenian nation condemning the genocide of its people that started in 1915.″ The Chilean Senate condemned the genocide in 2007.

Colombia changed the name of the capital of its Quindío Department to Armenia in memory of the Armenian people murdered during the Genocide.

The resolution, presented by Pedro de la Cruz, representative of Ecuador, and approved unanimously at a meeting of the organization in Montevideo, expresses its solidarity with the Armenian people and communities of the diaspora, while "urging" the international community to "acknowledge this historical fact as an unconditional support for truth and justice and as a form of rejection of such acts that shame all humanity."

The Andean Parliament is the "governing body and representative of the peoples of the Andean Community," according to a constitutive treaty of October 25, 1979. Its work focuses on the "parliamentary management, policy development and popular representation on issues related the Andean integration process such as education, mobility, migration, social and labor rights, energy, environment and climate change, coexistence and security, food security and sovereignty, competitiveness and entrepreneurship, among others."