Azernews.Az

YEREVAN - Britain’s government will not recognize the alleged World War I-era genocide of Armenians, British Ambassador to Armenia Charles Lonsdale was quoted by Armenia Today news agency as saying.
Lonsdale said London’s policy on the issue would remain unchanged.
"We are unlikely to see changes in the policies of the new government on the matter," he said. "We admit the fact and grieve the suffering the Armenians have been through. But ‘genocide’ is a legal concept, and not a single international court today can retrospectively interpret the 1915 developments as genocide. And the British government cannot use a legal term to characterize historical events."
Historians note that during the developments, Armenians had begun an uprising. They took up arms against Turkey and assisted Russia, one of Turkey’s enemies in WWI. To counter these actions, the Ottoman Empire decided to resettle the Armenians. The latter claim that their predecessors were subjected to genocide in the process, while Ankara rejects the allegations and has offered to research the events through a joint commission of historians.
Regarding Armenian-Turkish and Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, Lonsdale said he was not expecting considerable changes in this respect any time soon. In dealing with these ties, the British embassy is contributing not in the political, but, rather, in the public and cultural realm by encouraging joint projects and communication, he said.
Commenting on the situation in Armenia, Lonsdale said the country’s biggest challenge is its oligarchic system, which currently dominates the domestic market and even pulls strings in the Armenian parliament. "This is the greatest concern," the ambassador added.