Assembly of Armenians of Europe sends letter to Swedish PM

May 1, 2010 - 13:09 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - On April 28, chairman of the Assembly of Armenians of Europe (ААЕ) Karo Hakobyan met with Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to discuss recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Swedish Riksdag, the ААЕ press service reported.

Mr. Hakobyan handed an ААЕ’s letter and briefed the Prime Minister on Assembly’s activities.

He also met with leaders of two major opposition parties, who pressed for adoption of the resolution on recognition of the genocide of Armenians, Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans and Pontic Greeks by the Swedish parliament on March 11.

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.