Baroness Kinnock doesn't deny the fact of Armenian Genocide

March 30, 2010 - 15:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - UK Minister of State for Africa and the UN of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Baroness Glenys Kinnock does not deny the UK government's 1915 position on the Armenian Genocide. However, she rejected an invitation to the Genocide Monument in Cardiff.

During a debate on the Armenian Genocide motion in the House of Lords on March 29, Baroness Kinnock said, "At the outset, I reaffirm that the Government deeply regret the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians who were either killed by Ottoman troops or died from starvation or disease at the beginning of the previous century. We share the view expressed today that the victims of such suffering should not be forgotten."

At the same time, she refused to send a representative to the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Cardiff in April, saying, "I was aware last year that noble Lords had raised the issue of a memorial. Sending a government representative might suggest recognition, so, despite our sympathies for the tragedy, we do not intend to send a representative."

She also noted that the fate of ethnic Armenians and smaller Christian minorities, including the Assyrians, living in the Ottoman Empire at the time was roundly and robustly condemned by the British Government, referring of course to the government response on 21st October 1915by Lord Robert Cecil (Under Secretary of State), who said, "I think it may be said, without the least fear of exaggeration, that no more horrible crime has been committed in the history of the world... This is a premeditive crime determined on long ago. It is part of the deliberate policy... it was a long-considered, deliberate policy to destroy and wipe out of existence the Armenians in Turkey. It was systematically carried out . It was ordered from above , and when, as happened on one or two occasions, the local governors were anxious to spare some of the children, or mitigate in some degree the horrors of the operation, they were sternly ordered to go on with the work... Not only was this premeditated. There was no provocation whatsoever..... There was no insurrection, no riot... The crime was a deliberate one, not to punish insurrection but to destroy the Armenian race."

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.