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PRESS RELEASE
Friday, November 6, 2009
AGBU Europe Calls on UK to Recognize the Armenian Genocide
Brussels — Today AGBU Europe called upon the government of the United
Kingdom to rescind its established policy of denying the Armenian
Genocide and initiate a more ethical and constructive policy towards
Turkey and Armenia by acknowledging the 1915 genocide and its
consequences in order to build confidence and contribute to security in
the region.
The call follows the publication of a legal opinion by Geoffrey
Robertson QC, an authority of matters on international criminal law, on
the British government’s long-held policy of considering that there is
"insufficient evidence" to consider the 1915 mass slaughter of the
Armenians in Turkey as genocide. The United Kingdom is the only
government in Europe that effectively denies the Armenian genocide.
Based on a thorough investigation of the written confidential/secret
internal documents obtained under Freedom of Information Act (FIA) from
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 1997, the Opinion concludes
that the "advice [upon which the government’s opinion is based] reflects
neither the law on genocide, nor the demonstrable facts of the massacres
in 1915-1916, and has been calculated to mislead Parliament into
believing that there has been an assessment of evidence and an exercise
of judgment on that evidence".
In fact, internal FCO documents make it abundantly clear, according to
Mr. Robertson’s analysis, that the British government’s position was
adopted exclusively to placate its ally Turkey and that the UK’s stance
is, as the FCO diplomats themselves put it, "open to criticism in terms
of its ethical dimension".
The legal opinion published on Tuesday also refers to the agreement
signed on October 10 between the Presidents of Turkey and Armenia to
establish relations, which it terms a "welcome development" but warns
that debate among historians about the Armenian genocide would be a
"pointless exercise" and that the matter cannot be suitably addressed
with Turkey as long as article 301 of its criminal code, which restricts
public debate on such matters as the Armenian Genocide, remains in
force.
AGBU Europe believes that the British policy of pandering to Turkey’s
Armenian Genocide denial is not only unethical but also ineffective and
short-sighted. The UK can play a role in promoting trust and stability
between neighbors in the South Caucasus and in Turkey, but their policy
must be based on the values and standards they would apply to fellow
European nations.
Said Armine Afrikian, Member of the board of AGBU Europe for the UK: "I
truly hope that our government will do the right thing this time. It
troubles me that Britain should still refuse to acknowledge the basic
facts which the UK was the first to denounce at the time".
In particular, the UK must support the forces of democracy and tolerance
in Turkey. Earlier this year, for example, a group of Turkish
intellectuals took the unprecedented step of issuing a public apology
for the World War I extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire,
even though they avoided using the word genocide, perhaps understandably
under 301, which nevertheless helped to challenge the taboo about the
Genocide in Turkey; in the face of such a bold public collective move,
the Ministry of Justice took the equally unprecedented decision not to
prosecute the initiators of the petition.
Genocide denial, by contrast, further casts doubt on Turkey’s
questionable reputation, delays the transformation and modernisation of
its society and institutions and feeds tensions and distrust between
neighbours. The 2007 assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink and the justice system’s dismal management of the prosecution of
his murderers, for instance, have severely tarnished Turkey’s reputation
abroad, particularly among the European public and decision-makers.
The Mr. Robertson QC’s Legal Opinion concludes by regretting that "there
is no recognition at all [on the part of the British government] of the
importance of nations acknowledging Genocide and their past crimes
against humanity or of supporting the descendants of victims who still,
almost a century later, have to live with the consequences", suggesting
that the contemporary relevance of the recognition of a past crime is
self-evident to a prominent expert in international justice.
The outcome of the struggle between the forces of tolerance and
democracy in Turkey and those who oppose them is by no means a foregone
conclusion. As one of Turkey’s closest partners and advocates, the UK is
ideally placed to help the country overcome its Armenian Genocide taboo.
In doing so, the UK can furthermore continue to pursue its own long-term
interests with Turkey and stay true to its values.
The Legal Opinion was drafted by Geoffrey Robertson QC, for Doughty
Street Chambers.
It was commissioned by the Armenian Centre, London.
The report can be downloaded at:
For further information, please email [email protected]
AGBU Europe: [email protected], tel: 00 33 1 45 20 03 18
AGBU Europe is the European branch of the Armenian General Benevolent
Union (AGBU). Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s
largest non-profit Armenian organization and touches the lives of some
400,000 Armenians worldwide. AGBU Europe coordinates and develops the
pan-European activities of the organization; it preserves and promotes
the Armenian identity and heritage through programmes in the fields of
education, leadership training, cultural heritage, humanitarian and EU
public affairs.
Background
The Armenian Genocide and relations between Turkey and Armenia
Armenians represented a substantial minority in the Ottoman Empire, of
roughly 2 million people, both in their historic homeland and in the
Empire’s major cities. They played an important part in the Empire’s
economy as well as in its intellectual and artistic life and in the
professions. In 1915, the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire,
fearing foreign interference in Armenia, initiated the extermination of
the Armenian population of the Empire, which led to the death of an
estimated 1.5 million ethnic Armenians. After the establishment of the
Turkish Republic in 1923, a policy of denial of the Armenian Genocide
was established and accompanied by a sustained effort to remove all
trace of Armenian presence.
Thousands of buildings were destroyed, place names were changed and
public reference to Armenians became a taboo. Across the world, the
survivors of the slaughter were increasingly confronted with the efforts
of Turkish diplomats to prevent them from commemorating and sharing
their story, a policy which continues to this day.
Since 1993, Turkey has maintained a blockade of Armenia in an attempt to
pressure the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to surrender to the Azeri
forces and to stop the campaign for the recognition of the Armenian
genocide across the world. This policy was inspired by "Turkic"
solidarity between Azeris and Turks against Armenians. It produced no
result because it was premised on the idea that the Republic of Armenia
should control the actions of all ethnic Armenians, whether in Karabakh
resisting Azeri special forces or lobbying for genocide recognition in
the Diaspora.