FOR THE FIRST TIME MINISTER OF UK GOVERNMENT HAS USED TERM ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Noyan Tapan

Ma y 13, 2008

LONDON, MAY 14, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. The UK government has
at last issued a strongly-worded condemnation of the desecration of
the Armenian Genocide Monument in Cardiff, which occurred on Holocaust
Memorial Day. In a reply to Mr David Burrowes MP, Minister Paul Murphy,
replying for the UK government specifically refered to "the desecration
of The Armenian Genocide Memorial in Cardiff in January" He continued:
"I wholeheartedly condemn this violent act of desecration. This attack,
like many similar crimes, is often unprovoked and undertaken under
the cover of darkness. I hope that when the person(s) are caught and
prosecuted for this crime, this will go some way to easing the pain
and distress that has been caused by this terrible act".

"This is a most significant development," said a spokesman for Armenia
Solidarity. "In the past government ministers have made strenuous
efforts to avoid using the phrase the Armenian Genocide. Considering
the recognition given to the Genocide by the majority of Welsh Members
of the UK parliament as well as the majority of the National Assembly
Members, the minister must have found it impossible to persist in this
avoidance. The truth of the Genocide has been set in stone in Wales,
and such violent acts of desecration by extremists can only embolden
other politicians in the UK to stand up for this truth."