Austrian parliament recognizes Armenian Genocide

VIENNA – The Austrian parliament on April 21 adopted a statement condemning the Armenian Genocide and calling on Turkey to face its past, Armenia Now reports citing CivilNet.

Peto Demirchian, a media relations officer for the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s Hay Dat Committee of Europe, tells the news website that all six factions of the Austrian parliament signed up to the statement that also emphasizes the responsibility of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as an ally of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, in the Armenian Genocide.

Earlier, on Monday, it emerged that Germany, which was the other ally of Ottoman Turks and Austria-Hungary in the 1914-1918 war, also intends to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide this week.

According to Reuters, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her coalition will vote on April 24, the day marking the centennial of the Genocide, to declare the murders of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as “an example of genocide”.

More than two dozen states in the world have already recognized the Ottoman-era massacres and deportations of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. The European Parliament last week called on Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and pave the way for “a genuine reconciliation” with Armenia.

Ibrahim Zaaboub