Interparliamentary Assembly passes Armenian Genocide Resolution

The 18th annual session of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy passed a Resolution on the Genocide Committed in the Ottoman Empire against Christian Peoples: Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians in Paris on June 23, head of the Armenian parliamentary delegation, Mkrtich Minasyan told a news conference.

According to him, the resolution was submitted by the Armenian delegation and will have legal force only after being discussed in the parliaments of more than 150 countries.

The resolution said that “genocide is a heinous crime against humanity and ought to be condemned regardless of runtime and state political interests.” The document called on the modern state of Turkey “to acknowledge responsibility, as best guarantee for averting similar crimes in the future, to revisit historic reality and examine these aspects of historic past thoroughly and critically.”

Delegates from Saudi Arabia and Romania also voted for the resolution. Note that these countries have not recognized the Armenian Genocide so far.

Azerbaijan and Turkey are not included in the Assembly due to the lack of Orthodox members, Christian parliamentarians. Armenia has been a founding member of the Assembly since 1992, with the Armenian Apostolic Church as part of eastern orthodoxy.