GAROYIAN: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Famagusta Gazette
Sept 4 2009

House of Representatives Speaker Marios Garoyian said yesterday that
Cyprus has always stood by the side of the Armenian people with regard
to their struggle for recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

In his opening address at the conference,"The Armenian Genocide and
International Law" in Beirut, Garoyian said: "whether committed in
times of peace or war Genocide constitutes a crime, condemnable and
punishable under International Law."

"Although the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide provides for an effective
international tool against this crime, adhering to a Convention is
only the first important step of what should actually and ultimately
be pursued," he added.

Garoyian said that the genocide of one and a half million Armenians
by the Ottomans, in and around the year 1915, undoubtedly constitutes
such a crime, for which Turkey has been toiling to prevent recognition.