Top Israeli diplomat pays tribute to Armenian Genocide victims

PanARMENIAN.Net - Deputy Director General of the Foreign Ministry of Israel Alexander Ben-Zvi visited the Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan on Tuesday, August 21 as part of his visit to the country.

The Israeli diplomat put flowers at the eternal flame to pay tribute the memory of 1.5 million victims of the Genocide.

In late May, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein postponed a debate and vote on recognizing the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire, the forerunner of modern Turkey, because “a majority of the Knesset would not have voted to support the recognition”. In mid-May, the Knesset had approved a request by the left-wing Meretz party to hold a Knesset debate and a vote on the issue.

When in Yerevan, Ben-Zvi met Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan to discuss the development of bilateral relations, issues of regional significance, the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Mnatsakanyan said that the process of the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide is first and foremost a moral responsibility for Yerevan and a tribute to the memory of the victims.

On April 24, Armenians worldwide commemorated the 103rd anniversary of the Genocide which began in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and continued until 1923. Some three dozen countries, hundreds of local government bodies and international organizations have so far recognized the killings of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as Genocide. Turkey denies to this day.