UK House of Lords holds debate on Armenian Genocide

UK House of Lords holds debate on Armenian Genocide

PanARMENIAN.Net - On June 16, a debate entitled "what is the timetable for the (British) Government for recognizing the Armenian Genocide" presented by Baroness Shreela Flather took place in the UK House of Lords.

As Mrs. Odette Bazil, the co-founder and Executive Secretary of British-Armenian All Party Parliamentary Group, Chair of the Anahit Association and the Chiltern Armenian Society, told PanARMENIAN.Net the Chamber was at full capacity and, responding on behalf of the British Government was Lord Howell of Guilford, Minister of State at Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Baroness Flather said: "I have just returned from Armenia where I have visited the Armenian Genocide museum which, compared to the Holocaust Museum, was no less upsetting, shocking and dreadful... The time is now for us to recognize this crime against humanity.”

Supporting Baroness Flather's Question were: Lord Avebury, who said: "would it not help Turkey's bid to join the European Union if Turkish politicians acknowledged the crimes of their ancestors?" and Baroness Cox: “... there is a serious risk in Turkey of prosecution for journalists and writers who use the term Armenian Genocide .. much educational material for schools has been produced by Turkey denying the Armenian Genocide .. is such censorship acceptable for a nation that hopes to join the European Union.”

As expected, Lord Howell's answer was a slightly modified replica of all the misleading, denialistic, unacceptable and biased responses to the same question that have been given by all consecutive FCO Ministers during the past 20 years: initially they said "there was NO genocide" , then the wording was changed to : "these were deplorable massacres and Armenians have our sympathy", a year later their response was: "we cannot find the unequivocal proof of that genocide - in one word - show us the smoking gun", soon this was followed by: "our advise is that two neighbor countries must find ways to come to terms with their past and communicate with each other" and now: " we must not intervene in the affairs of two neighbor countries and must not comment on the detailed internal affairs between them . The best way forward is for Turkey and Armenia, which have initialed detailed protocols, to work to sort this out.”

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