In Israel, both coalition and opposition urge remembrance of Armenian genocide
Both coalition and opposition members Tuesday commemorated the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turks, despite Israel’s efforts to patch things up with Turkey over the raid on the Gaza flotilla three years ago in which eight Turkish nationals died, says an article in Haaretz.com.
Because of Jerusalem's past close relations with Ankara, the government has never officially recognized the events as genocide, says the article.
“How many of us are really familiar with the Armenian holocaust? Why are we indifferent when Turkey does not take responsibility?” said MK Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi).
MK Israel Hasson (Kadima) called on his colleagues to support the Armenian people. “We’ve formed an Israeli-Armenian friendship association, and I call on any MKs who want to express solidarity to join it, even if the government has difficulty formulating a statement.”
MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) referred to the reconciliation talks with Turkey as “an important and strategic process. It's not that we have to either recognize the genocide or have relations with Turkey; we can do both.”
Ofir Akunis, a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Office, said that “as Jews and Israelis we have a moral obligation to remember human tragedies. One of them was the massacre of the Armenian people. The State of Israel has never denied these terrible events.”
The Armenian Genocide has been recognized and condemned by Uruguay (1965), the Republic of Cyprus (1982), Argentina (1993), Russia (1995), Canada (1996), Greece (1996), Lebanon (1997), Belgium (1998), Italy (2000), Vatican (2000), France (2001), Switzerland (2003), Slovakia (2004), The Netherlands (2004), Poland (2005), Germany (2005), Venezuela (2005), Lithuania (2005), Chile (2007), Sweden (2010). The Armenian Genocide has been recognized by Vatican, the Council of Europe and the World Council of Churches.
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