Written question asked by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Malloch-Brown (Labour) on Tuesday, 4 March 2008.

Armenia: Genocide

Question: asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they recognise the existence of genocide in Armenia in 1915.

Answer: The position of the Government on this issue is long-standing. The Government acknowledge the strength of feeling about this terrible episode of history and recognise the massacres of 1915-16 as a tragedy. However, neither this Government nor previous 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. As my right honourable friend the then Minister for Europe (Geoffrey Hoon) said in a debate in Westminster Hall on 7 June 2006 (Official Report, col. 137WH), the work of establishing the truth must be conducted as a joint exercise by the parties directly involved if it is to help towards reconciliation. There needs to be a truth and reconciliation process owned by the people of Armenia and Turkey. Outsiders can commend the idea to the parties, but they should not try to do the work for them—undertaking this is an important part of the confidence-building and reconciliation process for the parties themselves. The Government will continue to encourage the parties to embark on such a process. In the mean time, we should resist the temptation to pre-empt its conclusions.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 2001; 699 c165-6WA
Session: 2007-08
Related items: Genocide (Armenia and Assyria)
Wednesday, 7 June 2006
Proceeding contributions
House of Commons
Subjects: Armenia Genocide World War I Turkey
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk