DENYING ARMENIA’S GENOCIDE
The Sofia Echo, Bulgaria
April 30 2007
The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), which is supported
mainly by Bulgarians of ethnic Turkish descent and is a member of the
ruling tripartite coalition, caused controversy on April 25 when it
refused to accept the term "genocide" in a declaration honouring the
memory of close to 1.5 million Armenians slaughtered in 1915 in the
then-Ottoman Empire. Roupen Kirkoryan, an MP of Armenian descent,
proposed that the memory of the Armenians be honoured by a minute
of silence in Parliament. When the clock started clicking, MRF MPs
walked out of the chamber in protest. The MRF appeared to endorse
the view of the modern Republic of Turkey that the tragedy with the
Armenians was not a slaughter, opposition MPs said. The MRF proposed
that Parliament adopt a declaration showing "compassion with the
tragedy of all nations and groups of people that had been victims of
violence". This prompted all opposition MPs to walk out of the chamber,
precluding debate on the proposal.