Speaker of Armenian Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan thanks Sweden for Genocide recognition

March 13, 2010 - 13:05 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Speaker of the RA Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan addressed a letter of thanks to Per Erik Gunnar Westerberg, Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag in connection with the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Swedish Parliament.

In the letter Speaker Abrahamyan, on behalf of the Armenian Parliament, expressed profound gratitude to the Swedish Parliament for approving a just resolution on the Armenian Genocide.

“By recognizing the Armenian Genocide you contributed to the prevention of similar crimes in the future…By its historic decision the Swedish Parliament also contributed to peace and stability in the South Caucasus,” the letter says.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.