Spain’s Sueca recognizes Armenian Genocide

June 5, 2017 - 12:16 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Spanish town of Sueca has recognized the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian embassy in Spain said in a Facebook post on Saturday, June 3.

Sueca thus joins dozens of other Spanish towns, as well as the regions of Aragon, Balearic Islands, Basque Country and Catalonia which recognized and condemned the first genocide of the 20th century in the past.

Around 30 countries, a number of international organizations and regional government bodies have so far acknowledged the killings of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

Related links:

Armenian embassy's Facebook post

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.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.