BRUSSELS—The Political Assembly of the European Political Party (EPP),
the largest political group in the European Parliament, on Tuesday
adopted a resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide, and calling on
Turkey to recognize it.
The resolution entitled ‘The Armenian Genocide, Turkish
Responsibility, and European Values’ reaffirms EPP’s “recognition and
condemnation of the Genocide and Great National Dispossession of the
Armenian people on the eve of its 100th Anniversary on 24 April 2015”.
The resolution emphasizes the incontrovertible evidence documented in
the archives of several western states, including Germany, United
Kingdom, USA, France, that the “Armenian Genocide… was perpetuated by
the Young Turk Government in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.“ The
resolution also criticizes the destruction of thousands of Armenian
cultural monuments in Turkey.
The largest political group of the European Parliament calls on
Turkey inter alia “to face history and finally recognize the
ever-present reality of the Armenian Genocide”, “make restitution
appropriate for a European country, including but not limited to
ensuring a right of return of the Armenian people to, and a secure
reconnection with, their national hearth…”
The President of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and
Democracy (EAFJD) Kaspar Karampetian said “we welcome the resolution
adopted and we thank the European People’s Party and in particular
President Joseph Daul for his support. EPP sister Armenian parties –
Republican Party of Armenia, Rule of Law and Heritage – showed that the
Armenian political parties are united in pursuing Armenian Genocide
recognition in this centennial year.” “The other political groups of the
European Parliament, as well as the Parliament as an institution,
should show similar determination and courage, in condemning the
Genocide and restoring historical justice,” concluded Karampetian.
Below is the text of the resolution.
Resolution adopted by the EPP Political Assembly ( 3rd March 2015) on “The Armenian Genocide and European Values”
The European People’s Party reaffirms its recognition and
condemnation of the Genocide and Great National Dispossession of the
Armenian people on the eve of its 100th Anniversary on 24 April 2015.
1. We condemn the genocidal acts against the Armenian people, planned
and continuously perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire and various regimes
of Turkey in 1894-1923, dispossession of the homeland, the massacres and
ethnic cleansing aimed at the extermination of the Armenian population,
the destruction of the Armenian heritage, as well as the denial of the
Genocide, all attempts to avoid responsibility, to consign to oblivion
the committed crimes and their consequences or to justify them, as a
continuation of this crime and encouragement to commit new genocides.
2. We commemorate one-and-a-half million innocent victims of the
Armenian Genocide in 1915 and bow in gratitude to those martyred and
surviving heroes who struggled for their lives and human dignity.
Moreover, we recognize, that the Genocide resulted in the death and
dispossession not only of Armenian people but also extended to the
Pontic Greeks and Assyrians peoples, and we commemorate them as well.
3. We join and strongly support the commitment of Armenia and the
Armenian people to continue the international struggle for the
prevention of genocides, the restoration of the rights of people
subjected to genocide and the establishment of historical justice.
4. We invite Turkey, in the finest example of integrity and
leadership proffered by the Federal Republic of post-war Germany, to
face history and finally recognize the ever-present reality of the
Armenian Genocide and its attendant dispossession, to seek redemption
and make restitution appropriate for a European country, including but
not limited to ensuring a right of return of the Armenian people to, and
a secure reconnection with, their national hearth―all flowing from the
fundamental imperative of achieving Reconciliation through the Truth.
5. We call upon the Government of Turkey to respect and realize fully
the legal obligations which it has undertaken including those
provisions which relate to the protection of cultural heritage and, in
particular, to conduct in good faith an integrated inventory of Armenian
and other cultural heritage destroyed or ruined during the past
century, based thereon to develop a strategy of priority restoration of
ancient and medieval capital cities, churches, schools, fortresses,
cemeteries, and other treasures located in historic Western Armenia, and
to render the aforementioned fully operational cultural and religious
institutions.
6. We appeal to EU and CoE member states, international
organizations, all people of good will, regardless of their ethnic
origin and religious affiliation, to unite their efforts aimed at
restoring historical justice and paying tribute to the memory of the
victims of the Armenian Genocide.
7. Taking the foregoing into account, the European People’s Party
invites Turkey to take the following measures pursuant to its
international commitments and the European identity to which it aspires:
to recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman
Empire, and to face its own history and memory through commemorating the
victims of that heinous crime against humanity;
to provide a vision and an implementing plan of action worthy of a
truly European Turkey, including a comprehensive resolution of issues
relating to the freedom of expression and reference to the Genocide in
state, society and educational institutions, as well as the repair of
religious and other cultural sites a nd their return to the Armenian and
other relevant communities;
to launch the long-awaited celebration of the Armenian national
legacy based on a total Turkish-Armenian normalization anchored in the
assumption of history, the pacific resolution of all outstanding
matters, and a complete Europeanization of their relationship.
8. It also invites the European Union, its Commission, Council and
Parliament, and the international community as a whole, in assessment of
the honoring of commitments and obligations undertaken by Turkey, to
accord continued attention to the recognition, restoration, and
restitution of our shared heritage as herewith tendered, and hereafter
officially to commemorate April 24 as a day to remember and condemn the
Armenian Genocide and man’s inhumanity to man.
9. We express the hope that recognition and condemnation of the
Armenian Genocide by Turkey will serve as a starting point for the
historical reconciliation of the Armenian and Turkish peoples.
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