BARONESS KINNOCK DOESN’T DENY THE FACT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
30.03.2010 14:46 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ UK Minister of State for Africa and the UN of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Baroness Glenys Kinnock does not deny
the UK government’s 1915 position on the Armenian Genocide. However,
she rejected an invitation to the Genocide Monument in Cardiff.
During a debate on the Armenian Genocide motion in the House of Lords
on March 29, Baroness Kinnock said, "At the outset, I reaffirm that
the Government deeply regret the deaths of hundreds of thousands
of Armenians who were either killed by Ottoman troops or died from
starvation or disease at the beginning of the previous century. We
share the view expressed today that the victims of such suffering
should not be forgotten."
At the same time, she refused to send a representative to the Armenian
Genocide Memorial in Cardiff in April, saying, "I was aware last
year that noble Lords had raised the issue of a memorial. Sending a
government representative might suggest recognition, so, despite our
sympathies for the tragedy, we do not intend to send a representative."
She also noted that the fate of ethnic Armenians and smaller Christian
minorities, including the Assyrians, living in the Ottoman Empire at
the time was roundly and robustly condemned by the British Government,
referring of course to the government response on 21st October 1915by
Lord Robert Cecil (Under Secretary of State), who said, "I think it
may be said, without the least fear of exaggeration, that no more
horrible crime has been committed in the history of the world… This
is a premeditive crime determined on long ago. It is part of the
deliberate policy… it was a long-considered, deliberate policy to
destroy and wipe out of existence the Armenians in Turkey. It was
systematically carried out . It was ordered from above , and when, as
happened on one or two occasions, the local governors were anxious to
spare some of the children, or mitigate in some degree the horrors of
the operation, they were sternly ordered to go on with the work… Not
only was this premeditated. There was no provocation whatsoever…..
There was no insurrection, no riot… The crime was a deliberate one,
not to punish insurrection but to destroy the Armenian race."