AZG Armenian Daily #103, 31/05/2008

Armenian Genocide

ARMENIAN LOBBY SCARCELY MORE POWERFUL THAN THE TURKISH ONE

The Diaspora, of course, greatly contributes the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The contribution of the
Armenian lobbies is most remarkable, although the progress in the run
for international recognition of the Genocide cannot be explained only
by the Diapsora’s efforts, as that would be beyond the powers of both
Armenia and the Diaspora. The secret of the success of the recognition
campaign is not in the Diaspora’s capability of imposing certain
decisions upon Parliament of different countries, but rather in the
irrefutability of the historical truth.

Expert of the Armenian Research Center of Ankara, Yildiz Deveci,
published in the institute’s May 28 bulletin published an article
entitled "The Scottish Armenian Lobby and the Position of the
Protestant Church", which is aimed at explaining the Catholic Church’s
initiative on the Armenian Genocide by the influence of the Armenian
lobby.

This is what he wrote, "By now the 1915 events have been recognized as
genocide by the parliaments of 19 states. The influence of the
Armenian lobbies of those countries in this issue is well
known. Nevertheless parliaments of certain states with very little
Armenian population sometimes tend to display similar attitudes, which
shows that the power of the Armenian lobbies does not depend on the
number of the Armenian population.

In this regard the activity of the Armenian lobby in Scotland is
remarkable. For the first time the question of the `Armenian Genocide’
was included in the agenda of the Edinburgh municipality council in
2005, by the initiative of Liberal Democrats. In despite of objection
of certain MPs, the council qualified the 1915 events as genocide.

Although in 2006 member of Edinburgh Municipality Council Phil Etridge
demanded to support Turkey’s proposal to establish a joint historians’
commission for studying the 1915 events and stated that `in England
the rights of the minorities are always respected and the Armenians
pretend that they are the only minority massacred in the war’, his
demands were rejected.

Recently the Armenian lobby of Scotland, pursuing the recognition of
the `Armenian Genocide’, has been trying to put the Scottish
protestant church to work. The Elder council of the Scottish
protestant church, which was founded in the 1690’s, has made decision
to ensure the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in England. This
decision will surely have some effect in the British parliament, as
the Armenian lobby of England periodically states that it expects an
`appropriate’ decision on that matter from England during the coming
couple of years."

Although the Parliament of England still seems unwilling to make a
certain decision on 1915 events and states that they can be hardly
qualified as genocide, the efforts of the Armenian lobby and the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide in Scotland and Wales, make us
suppose that hot arguments on the Armenian Genocide will soon occur in
England.

By H. Chaqrian, translated by A.M.