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Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has issued a statement hailing the European Parliament’s Resolution on the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide.

The full text of the statement, released by the Foreign Ministry press service, is provided below:

"Armenia welcomes the European Parliament Resolution on the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide.

"The European Parliament underlines that yet in its resolution of 1987 it recognized that what took place against the Armenians in 1915-1917 in the Ottoman Empire represents a genocide as defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and strongly deplores any attempts of its denial.

"Paying tribute to the memory of the one-and-a-half million innocent Armenian victims the parliament, representing 28 European countries, is joining the commemoration of the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide and calls on the Commission and Council to follow its example.

"The European Parliament deems the prevention and effective punishment of genocides and crimes against humanity as a main priority of the international community.

"The Resolution contains an important message to Turkey to use the commemoration of the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide to come to terms with its past, to recognize the Armenian Genocide and thus pave the way for a genuine reconciliation between Turkish and Armenian peoples.

"By the adoption of this Resolution the European Parliament once again reaffirmed its dedication to the protection of human rights and universal values."