Austrian parliament condemns Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire

On April 21, the Austrian parliament has passed a resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

According to communications officer of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s Hay Dat Committee of Europe Peto Demirchyan, the statement passed by six parties represented in the Austrian parliament says that the massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago were genocide.

“The resolution also stresses Austria’s moral responsibility in recognizing the Armenian Genocide, as during the First World War the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the German Empire were allies of the Ottoman Empire,” Demirchyan told Mediamax.

He added that on April 22, members of the Austrian parliament would commemorate victims of the Armenian Genocide with a moment of silence. On April 24, the official delegation of Austria to Armenia will be headed by the Austrian ambassador.

On April 24, The German Bundestag will host a debate on recognition of the Armenian Genocide. As German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Süddeutsche Zeitung recently, what happened in 1915 can be described with a word “genocide”. In his turn, deputy chair of the CDU faction in the German parliament Franz Josef Jung said his party intends to call the massacre of Armenians a genocide. This word should be in the text of the resolution that the Bundestag is to pass in coming days, Jung believes. At the same time, he said he was sure that German President Joachim Gauck would use the word in his speech.