Armenia’s Kurdish, Yezidi communities demand Genocide recognition by Turkey

April 24, 2011 - 11:27 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Kurds and Yezidis residing in Armenia strictly condemn the Armenian Genocide and demand from the Turkish government to recognize it.

Heads of the Kurdish and Yezidi communities of Armenia Knyaz Hasanov and Aziz Tamoyan told journalists that Turkey should come to terms with its history and recognize the 1915 tragedy as Genocide.

“On behalf of the Kurdish community of Armenia and the Kurdish people, we demand from the Turkish government that it apologize to the Armenian people. At the same time, we urge to stop the genocide of Kurds,” said Hazanov.

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.