Sicily regional parliament recognizes Armenian Genocide

April 21, 2016 - 17:19 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Sicilian Regional Assembly on Wednesday, April 20 unanimously recognized the Armenian Genocide, becoming the 105th council at the self-government level to have done so in Italy.

In a resolution, the parliament expresses solidarity and support to the Armenian people’s struggle for the recognition of this historical truth.

Also, the resolution calls on the local and Italy’s national governments to jointly promote the events aimed at raising awareness of the massacres for the sake of peace, democracy and the peoples’ right to self-determination.

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.