Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The United Kingdom has become another government to reject not only recognizing but even considering the so-called "Armenian genocide" in its legislative body.

The British parliament said it is not going to review its position on the 1915 events, after a request was submitted to recognize what transpired in the Ottoman Empire as a "genocide".

The question of recognition of the so-called “Armenian genocide” was raised by Baroness Caroline Cox.

Earl of Courtown, James Stopford, who represented the government during the discussion in the House of Lords on June 16, said the British government recognizes the suffering of the Armenian people and other groups in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century, Armenian media reported.

However, he stressed that at the moment the government has no plans to revise its position on this issue.

Stopford said the British government encourages ties between Armenia and Turkey.

Earlier, Spain's upper parliament had rejected a bill to recognize Armenian claims regarding the 1915 events.

Many Armenian scholars these days argue that what happened to their ancestors back in 1915 under the Ottoman Empire was a "mass murder" which constitutes a "genocide".

Modern Turkey today is taking a very different approach to the events of 1915. Ankara's approach now is to focus on the true nature of what happened a hundred years ago.

Turkish officials say that to clearly understand what happened, it is necessary to dig through historical archives from the middle of 19th century to establish exactly what happened during the Ottoman Empire - what were the major actors of the time, how nationalist tendencies came into play, and how the Ottoman Empire was being dismembered. Ankara believes that an investigation into the role that Armenians played during those events is also important.

Yerevan, in turn, year on year exerts more efforts to achieve international recognition and condemnation of its "genocide" claims instead of supporting Ankara's invitation for a joint historical investigation. Nonetheless, leading world powers including the U.S., the UK, Israel and others have abstained from joining "genocide" sympathizers.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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