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British Government Explicitly Denies The Armenian Genocide in Response to E-Petition
British Government Explicitly Denies The Armenian Genocide in Response
to E-petition
Armenian News Network / Groong
December 9, 2007
By Kevork Oskanian
LONDON, ENGLAND
The following is the official response by the government of the United
Kingdom to a petition urging it to recognise the Armenian Genocide of
1915, as posted on 7 december 2007 at
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page13999.asp :
"The British Government acknowledges and regrets the terrible events
that afflicted the Ottoman Armenian population at the beginning of the
last century, when over a million ethnic Armenian citizens of the
Ottoman Empire were killed. Many were massacred; some were victims of
civil strife, starvation and disease, which ravaged the whole population
of Eastern Anatolia during the First World War.
The massacres were an appalling tragedy, which the British Government of
the day condemned. We fully endorse that view. However, neither this
Government nor previous British Governments have judged that the
evidence is sufficiently unequivocal to persuade us that these events
should be categorised as genocide as defined by the 1948 UN Convention
on Genocide, a convention which is, in any event, not retrospective in
application.
The British Government believes that the focus should be on ensuring a
progressive approach; to improve the chances for reconciliation between
Armenian and Turkish people and to achieve a peaceful and secure future
for everyone living in the region. To this end we encourage the
Governments of Armenia and Turkey to improve co-operation, economic
development and understanding between their countries.
In preparing for EU accession, Turkey must demonstrate its commitment to
good neighbourly relations and must have undertaken to resolve
outstanding border disputes. The advancement of accession negotiations
will be guided by progress made in these, and other areas."
The Petition:
to E-petition
Armenian News Network / Groong
December 9, 2007
By Kevork Oskanian
LONDON, ENGLAND
The following is the official response by the government of the United
Kingdom to a petition urging it to recognise the Armenian Genocide of
1915, as posted on 7 december 2007 at
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page13999.asp :
"The British Government acknowledges and regrets the terrible events
that afflicted the Ottoman Armenian population at the beginning of the
last century, when over a million ethnic Armenian citizens of the
Ottoman Empire were killed. Many were massacred; some were victims of
civil strife, starvation and disease, which ravaged the whole population
of Eastern Anatolia during the First World War.
The massacres were an appalling tragedy, which the British Government of
the day condemned. We fully endorse that view. However, neither this
Government nor previous British Governments have judged that the
evidence is sufficiently unequivocal to persuade us that these events
should be categorised as genocide as defined by the 1948 UN Convention
on Genocide, a convention which is, in any event, not retrospective in
application.
The British Government believes that the focus should be on ensuring a
progressive approach; to improve the chances for reconciliation between
Armenian and Turkish people and to achieve a peaceful and secure future
for everyone living in the region. To this end we encourage the
Governments of Armenia and Turkey to improve co-operation, economic
development and understanding between their countries.
In preparing for EU accession, Turkey must demonstrate its commitment to
good neighbourly relations and must have undertaken to resolve
outstanding border disputes. The advancement of accession negotiations
will be guided by progress made in these, and other areas."
The Petition:
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