Knesset members to attend Genocide commemoration events in YerevanApril 15, 2015 - 09:49 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Two members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, will attend centennial commemorations of the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan on April 24. Members of the Knesset Nachman Shai and Anat Berko will attend the official 100th anniversary memorial in Yerevan, according to Asbarez. Israel is walking a diplomatic tightrope in relation to the Armenian Genocide, Shai, who is a member of Israel’s Zionist Union party, said Tuesday, April 14. “This is an event of deep historic significance,” Shai said. “For the first time in 100 years, the international community is finally recognizing the great injustice … Nationally, and for humanitarian reasons, it is the right thing to stand with a nation that suffered from such torment and a massacre that the world was careful not to admit took place.” Shai called the event “the Armenian Holocaust,” pointing out that “the Jewish People sometimes don’t like it when other nations use the word holocaust, but it certainly was one.” “It’s just like what the Nazis did to the Jews. One nation massacred another nation based only on their national and religious identity. [Ottoman] Turks were Muslim, Armenians were Christian. The Christians wanted their own state, and the Turks wouldn’t allow it.” The Armenian government invited Israel to send an official delegation to the ceremony, and the Foreign Ministry asked the Knesset to have two members attend, though this does not mark a change in the government’s policy not to officially recognize the genocide. Shai described the decision as a mature one by Israel, a realization that “nothing bad will happen if we make a gesture to the Armenians … The Turks may be mad, but we can’t close our eyes after 100 years.” “Israel and the Jewish people can’t ignore the holocaust of the Armenian people,” he added. The Armenian Genocide The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million. Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment. CSTO recognizes Armenia’s sovereign right to withdraw Tasmagambetov has said that if Armenia decides to leave the organization, “it will be the sovereign right of Armenia.” |