title: Haarlem

text: In 1632 a tow canal between Haarlem and Amsterdam, the Haarlemmertrekvaart was opened, the first tow canal in the country. The empty areas in the city that were a result of the fire of 1576 were filled with new houses and buildings. Even outside the city wall buildings were constructed—in 1643 about 400 houses were counted outside the wall.


title: Haarlem

text: Having buildings outside the city walls was not a desirable situation to the city administration. Not only because these buildings would be vulnerable in case of an attack on the city, but there was also less control over taxes and city regulations outside the walls. Therefore, a major project was initiated in 1671: expanding the city northwards.


title: Haarlem

text: Two new canals were dug, and a new defensive wall was constructed (the current "Staten en Prinsenbolwerk"). Two old city gates, the Janspoort and Kruispoort, were demolished. The idea that a city had to be square-shaped was abandoned.


title: Haarlem

text: After the fall of Antwerp, many artists and craftsmen migrated to Haarlem and received commissions from the Haarlem council to decorate the city hall. The paintings commissioned were meant to show Haarlem's glorious history as well as Haarlem's glorious products. Haarlem's cultural life prospered, with painters like Frans Hals and Jacob van Ruisdael, the architect Lieven de Key and Jan Steen who made many paintings in Haarlem.


title: Haarlem

text: The Haarlem councilmen became quite creative in their propaganda promoting their city. On the "Grote Markt", the central market square, there's a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster who is allegedly the inventor of the printing press. This is the second and larger statue to him on the square. The original stands behind the city hall in the little garden known as the "Hortus" (where today the Stedelijk Gymnasium school is located).


title: Haarlem

text: Most scholars agree that the scarce evidence seems to point to Johann Gutenberg as the first European inventor of the printing press, but Haarlem children were taught about "Lau" as he is known, well into the 20th century. This legend served the printers of Haarlem well, however, and it is probably for that reason the most notable Dutch history books from the Dutch Golden Age period were published in Haarlem; by Hadrianus Junius (Batavia), Dirck Volkertszoon Coornhert (Works), Karel van Mander (Schilderboeck), Samuel Ampzing (Description and Ode to Haarlem), Petrus Scriverius (Batavia Illustrata), and Pieter Christiaenszoon Bor (Origin of the Dutch wars).


title: Haarlem

text: Beer brewing was a very important industry in Haarlem. Until the 16th century the water for the beer was taken from the canals in the city. These were, through the Spaarne and the IJ, connected to seawater. However, the water in the canals was getting more and more polluted, and no longer suitable for brewing beer. A place south-west of the city was then used to take fresh water in.


title: Haarlem

text: However, the quality of that water was not good enough either. From the 17th century a canal ("Santvaert") was used to transport water from the dunes to the city. The water was transported in barrels on ships. The location where the water was taken is called the "Brouwerskolkje", and the canal to there still exists, and is now called the Brewers' Canal ("Brouwersvaart").


title: Haarlem

text: Haarlem was a major beer producer in the Netherlands. The majority of the beer it produced was consumed in North Holland. During the Spanish siege there were about 50 brewing companies in the city; while 45 years later in 1620 the city numbered about one hundred breweries.


title: Haarlem

text: There was another epidemic of the Black Death in 1657, which took a heavy toll in the six months it ravaged the city. From the end of the 17th century the economic situation in the city turned sour, for a long time. In 1752 there were only seven beer breweries left, and in 1820 no breweries were registered in the city anymore. In the 1990s the Stichting Haarlems Biergenootschap revived some of the old recipes under the new Jopen beer brand, that is marketed as a "Haarlem bier". In 2010 Jopen opened a brewery in a former church in central Haarlem called the Jopenkerk. In 2012 Haarlem gained a new local brewery with Uiltje Bar in the Zijlstraat, which specializes in craft beers.


title: Haarlem

text: From the 1630s until present day, Haarlem has been a major trading centre for tulips, and it was at the epicentre during tulip mania, when outrageous prices were paid for tulip bulbs. From the time that the Leiden-Haarlem canal Leidsevaart was opened in 1656, it became popular to travel from Rotterdam to Amsterdam by passenger boat rather than by coach. The canals were dug for passenger service only, and were comfortable though slow. The towpath led these passengers through the bulb fields south of Haarlem.


title: Haarlem

text: Haarlem was an important stopover for passengers from the last half of the 17th century and through the 18th century until the building of the first rail tracks along the routes of former passenger canal systems. As Haarlem slowly expanded southwards, so did the bulb fields, and even today rail travelers between Rotterdam and Amsterdam will see beautifully blooming bulb fields on the stretch between Leiden and Haarlem in Spring.


title: Haarlem

text: As the centre of trade gravitated towards Amsterdam, Haarlem declined in the 18th century. The Golden age had created a large upper middle class of merchants and well-to-do small business owners. Taking advantage of the reliability of the trekschuit connection between Amsterdam and Haarlem, many people had a business address in Amsterdam and a weekend or summer home in Haarlem.


title: Haarlem

text: Haarlem became more and more a bedroom community as the increasingly dense population of Amsterdam caused the canals to smell in the summer. Many well-to-do gentlemen moved their families to summer homes in the Spring and commuted between addresses. Popular places for summer homes were along the Spaarne in southern Haarlem. Pieter Teyler van der Hulst and Henry Hope built summer homes there, as well as many Amsterdam merchants and councilmen. Today, it is still possible to travel by boat along the Spaarne and this has turned into a popular form of tourism in the summer months. In the 18th century Haarlem became the seat of a suffragan diocese of the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht.


title: Haarlem

text: At the end of the 18th century a number of anti-Orange commissions were founded. On 18 January 1795 the "Staatse" army was defeated near Woerden. During the night preceding the 19th, the same night that stadtholder William V of Orange fled the country, the various commissions gathered and implemented a revolution. The commissions changed the city's administrators in a bloodless revolution, and the next morning the city was 'liberated' of the tyranny of the House of Orange. The revolution was peaceful and the Orange-loyal people were not harmed. The Batavian Republic was then proclaimed.


title: Haarlem

text: The French army entered the liberated city two days later, on 20 January. An army of 1,500 soldiers was provided with food and clothing by the citizens. The new national government was strongly centralised, and the role and influence of the cities was reduced. The Batavian Republic had signed a mutual defense pact with France, and was thus automatically at war with England. The strong English presence at sea severely reduced the trading opportunities, and the Dutch economy suffered accordingly.


title: Haarlem

text: The textile industry, which had always been an important pillar of Haarlem's economy, was in a bad shape at the beginning of the 19th century. Strong international competition, and revolutionary new production methods based on steam engines already in use in England, dealt a striking blow to Haarlem's industry. In 1815 the city's population was about 17,000 people, a large percentage of whom were poor. The foundation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in that year gave hope to many, who believed that under a new government the economy would pick up, and that export-oriented economic activities such as the textile industry would recover.


title: Haarlem

text: In the beginning of the 19th century the defense walls had lost their function, and architect Zocher Jr. planned a park on the location of the former defense line. The city walls and gates were demolished and the bricks were reused for construction of workers homes and factories. Haarlem became the provincial capital of North Holland province in the early 19th century.


title: Haarlem

text: In the mid-19th century the city's economy slowly started to improve. New factories were opened, and a number of large industrial companies were founded in Haarlem by Thomas Wilson, Guillaume Jean Poelman, J.B.T. Prévinaire, J.J. Beijnes, Hendrik Figee, Gerardus Johannes Droste and G.P.J. Beccari.


title: Haarlem

text: The Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM or Dutch Trade Company) was founded by King Willem I to create employment opportunities. As one of the cities in the western part of the Netherlands with the worst economic situation, three cotton mills were created in Haarlem under the NHM-program in the 1830s. These were run by experts from the Southern Netherlands, whom the NHM considered better at mechanical weaving through the local expertise of Lieven Bauwens.


title: Haarlem

text: The lucky contract winners were Thomas Wilson, whose factory was situated north of what is today the Wilsonplein, Guillaume Jean Poelman, who was in business with his nephew Charles Vervaecke from Ghent and had a factory on what today is the Phoenixstraat, and Jean Baptiste Theodore Prévinaire, who had a factory on the Garenkokerskade and whose son Marie Prosper Theodore Prévinaire created the "Haarlemsche Katoenmaatschappij" in 1875.


title: Haarlem

text: These cotton factories produced goods for export, and because the Dutch government levied heavy taxes on foreign cotton producers this was a profitable business for the NHM-factories, especially for export to the Dutch East Indies. The programme started in the 1830s, and was initially successful, but after 1839 when Belgium was split away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the protectionist measures for the Dutch East Indian market were removed and the business began to flounder. When the American Civil War reduced the import of raw cotton significantly after 1863, the business went sour. Only Prévinaire was able to survive through specialisation with his "Turkish Red" dye. The Prévinaire "toile Adrinople" was popular. Prévinaire's son went on to create the Haarlemsche Katoenmaatschappij, which made a kind of imitation batik cloth called "La Javanaise" that became popular in Belgian Congo.


title: Haarlem

text: In England in 1804, Richard Trevithick designed the first locomotive. The government of the Netherlands was relatively slow to catch up, even though the King feared competition from newly established Belgium if they would construct a railway between Antwerp and other cities. The Dutch parliament balked at the high level of investment needed, but a group of private investors started the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij on 1 June 1836.


title: Haarlem

text: It took three years to build the first track on the railway, between Haarlem and Amsterdam along the old tow canal called the Haarlemmertrekvaart. The ground there was wet and muddy. On 20 September 1839, the first train service in the Netherlands started. The train had a speed of about . The train service gave the Beijnes company, and indirectly the whole economy of Haarlem, a strong boost, and the effects of this can be seen in the Haarlem railway station, now a rijksmonument. Instead of more than two hours, Amsterdam was now only 30 minutes away.


title: Haarlem

text: The old passenger service by trekschuit along the Haarlemmertrekvaart was quickly taken out of service in favour of the train service, which was quicker and more reliable. In 1878, a Beijnes-made horse tram started servicing passengers from the railway station to the Haarlemmerhout woodland park, and in 1894, the "Eerste Nederlandsche Electrische Tram Maatschappij" (ENET) was founded with cars built by Beijnes and became the first Dutch electric tram, which ran in Haarlem from 1899 onwards.


title: Haarlem

text: Though the old trekvaart is closed for water traffic today, thanks to these early rail developments, it is still possible to travel by boat from Amsterdam to Haarlem, via the ringvaart or the North Sea Canal. Pleasure boating in the summer has become an important Haarlem tourist attraction, though it is not possible to travel all of the old canals as in Amsterdam. The creation of new land in the Haarlemmermeer from 1852 onwards, meant that the city could no longer refresh the water in its canals using the Spaarne river. The increase in industry made the water quality even worse, and in 1859 the Oude Gracht, a city canal, stank so badly in the summer, that it was filled in to create a new street called the Gedempte Oude Gracht.


title: Haarlem

text: From 1879 the population of the city almost doubled in thirty years, from 36,976 to 69,410 in 1909. Not only did the population grow, but the city was expanding rapidly too. The Leidsebuurt district was incorporated into Haarlem in the 1880s. A small part of (the now defunct) municipality of Schoten was incorporated in 1884 because the council of Haarlem wanted to have the hospital (Het Dolhuys) inside the municipal borders. This hospital was situated at "het bolwerk" on Schoten's territory.


title: Haarlem

text: In the beginning of the 20th century the city expanded north. As early as 1905 an official plan was presented by the Haarlem municipality for expansion. However, the surrounding municipalities did not agree, and it would take 25 years to come to an agreement. On 1 May 1927 the municipality of Schoten became part of Haarlem, as well as part of Spaarndam, Bloemendaal and Heemstede. The population increased at once with 31,184 citizens.


title: Haarlem

text: In 1908, a renewed railway station was opened. The station was elevated, so traffic in the city was no longer hampered by railway crossings. In 1911, Anthony Fokker showed his plane, "de Spin" to the audience in Haarlem by flying around the Sint-Bavokerk on Queen's Day.


title: Haarlem

text: Later the expansion of the city went southwards (Schalkwijk) and eastwards (Waarderpolder). In 1932, Vroom & Dreesmann, a Dutch retailer built a department store at Verwulft. Many buildings were demolished, except one small chemist's shop on the corner, "Van der Pigge", who refused to be bought out and which is now encapsulated by the V&D building. They are therefore also called 'David and Goliath' by locals.


title: Haarlem

text: From 17 to 21 September 1944, parts of Haarlem-Noord (north of the Jan Gijzenvaart) were evacuated by the Germans to make place for a defensive line. The stadium of HFC Haarlem, the football club, was demolished. Hundreds of people had to leave their homes and were forced to stay with other citizens.


title: Haarlem

text: From 22 September 1944 to the end of the war, there was gas available only two hours per day. Electricity stopped on 9 October. The German occupiers built a thick, black wall through the Haarlemmerhout (in the south of the city), as well as at the Jan Gijzenvaart in the evacuated area. The wall was called Mauer-muur and was meant to help defend the city.


title: Haarlem

text: In February of 1944 the family of Corrie ten Boom was arrested by the Nazis; they had been hiding Jews and Dutch resistance workers from the German occupier throughout the war.


title: Haarlem

text: During World War II, the Dutch heroine Hannie Schaft, who worked for a Dutch resistance group; was captured and executed by the German occupation just before the end of the war in 1945. Despite her efforts and those of her colleagues and private families such as the Ten Booms, most Haarlem Jews were deported, the Haarlem Synagogue was demolished and the Jewish hospital was annexed by the St. Elisabeth Gasthuis. Several Haarlem families, whether they were politically active in the NSB or not, suffered from random attacks, as the Haarlem writer Harry Mulisch described in his book De Aanslag. Haarlemmers survived during the Hunger Winter by eating tulip bulbs stored in sheds in the sandy fields around the city.


title: Haarlem

text: After the war much of the large industry moved out of the city, such as the banknote printing firm of Joh. Enschedé. The centre of industry and shipping had definitely shifted towards Amsterdam. Though the population had been decimated by starvation, a new wave of immigrants came to the city from the former colonies in Indonesia. This brought some government funding for building projects. In 1963 a large number of houses was built in Schalkwijk.


title: Haarlem

text: Haarlem has had a Christian parish church since the 9th century. This first church was a "daughter church" of Velsen, which itself was founded in 695 by St. Willibrord. It was a wooden church at the site of the current "Grote Kerk" on the Grote Markt (central market square). Haarlem was granted its first known indulgence by Clement V in 1309, during the Avignon Papacy. In 1245 Haarlem received city rights as a result of population growth and the church was expanded. Later, after the fires of 1347 and 1351, Haarlem was again granted a Portiuncula indulgence in 1397 for funding to rebuild the church. This indulgence would be used again and again over the centuries to fund expansion and restoration activities.


title: Haarlem

text: Having been granted papal rights from Avignon was perhaps the reason that the ties to Rome were never very strong in Haarlem, since the building most commonly called the "Cathedral" in the centre of town only held a cathedra for 19 years, from 1559 to 1578. This Grote Kerk or Sint-Bavokerk was originally a parish church devoted to Maria, but was later named after the patron saint of Haarlem, Saint Bavo, who descended from Heaven regularly to free the Haarlemmers from invaders, most recently when the Kennemers and West-Friesians attacked in 1274. This is allegedly how the Haarlem war cry "Sint Bavo voor Haarlem" originated, which was used during the siege against the Spaniards in 1572 that eventually resulted in an underground cathedra called the Sint Josephstatie, on the Goudsmitsplein.


title: Haarlem

text: The Roman Catholic parish of Haarlem became a Diocese in 1559 ("Dioecesis Harlemensis") and the first bishop of Haarlem was Nicolaas van Nieuwland (born in 1510). He accepted the position on 6 November 1561. In 1569 he was advised to resign by the Duke of Alva, because of his reputation for drinking ("Dronken Klaasje"). He had a good reason to drown his sorrows, because he feared the Catholic Spanish invaders as much as the native Dutch reformers. The Grote Kerk was initially spared from iconoclasm, because the city's mayor ordered the closing of the church for several months in 1566. That gave the various groups in Haarlem the time to quietly remove many of the treasures from the church and stash them safely in underground chapels. All symbols and statues linked to the Roman Catholic faith were removed from the cathedral. Since many groups already had their own chapels in the Grote Kerk, this was conducted in an orderly way. However, after the siege of Haarlem was lost, the Spanish army restored Roman Catholic iconography. The guilds had to restore their old altars, at great expense. Since Haarlem was quite poor after the siege, this led to many of the chapels and other Catholic churches being abandoned and used for other purposes. The Bakenesserkerk, where 1500 soldiers were held before being killed by the Spanish after their victory, was used to store turf for fifty years.


title: Haarlem

text: Van Nieuwland was succeeded by Godfried van Mierlo, who was the last bishop in communion with Rome Haarlem would know for 300 years. In 1578 after the Spanish were defeated, the church was attacked on Sacrament day (29 May), this time by soldiers of the Prince of Orange. One of the priests was killed, and many objects in the church were destroyed. This event, called the "Haarlemse Noon", forced the bishop to flee the city. Many treasures were still safe 500 yards away in the underground Catholic church. The city council confiscated the Sint Bavo Kerk and all of its daughter churches, and later converted them along the tenets of the Evangelical Reformed Church. The new (and current) name became Grote Kerk. Old Catholics and the Lutherans, though officially tolerated, went underground. Both Protestants and Catholics alike felt that when all political unrest had subsided, the Catholics could regain control of "their" church. However, the Dutch Protestants had also removed all Catholics from local government and feared that they would have to pay damages to the Catholics if they were allowed their own churches again. All over the Netherlands, new Catholic churches were subsidised, called "Waterboard churches", for their similarity to Waterboard pump stations (they were designed by the same architect in Neo-classical style), and in Haarlem they built the St. Joseph kerk in the Jansstraat in 1841. It was not until 1853 that a new Roman Catholic bishop was installed in the St. Joseph kerk. As this church grew, a new cathedral, again called the Cathedral of Saint Bavo, was built at the Leidsevaart (canal to Leiden) in 1898. The Bishop of Haarlem has a formal residence on the Nieuwe Gracht canal.


title: Haarlem

text: The Frans Hals Museum, which was the Haarlem municipal museum, has still in its collection today many pieces confiscated from the churches during the Haarlemse Noon.


title: Haarlem

text: There are several museums in Haarlem. The Teylers Museum lies on the Spaarne river and is the oldest museum of the Netherlands. Its main subjects are art, science and natural history, and it owns a number of works by Michelangelo and Rembrandt. Another museum is the Frans Hals Museum of fine arts, with its main location housing Dutch master paintings, and its exhibition halls on the Grote Markt housing a gallery for modern art called De Hallen. Also on the Grote Markt, in the cellar of the Vleeshal is the Archeologisch Museum Haarlem, while across the square on Saturdays, the Hoofdwacht building is open with exhibitions on Haarlem history.


title: Haarlem

text: Other museums are the "Barrel Organ Museum Haarlem", "Het Dolhuys" (a museum of psychiatry), the Ten Boom Museum (a hiding place for Jews in World War II) and the Historisch Museum Haarlem, across from the Frans Hals Museum.


title: Haarlem

text: The city contains several theatres, a cinema and other cultural attractions. The Philharmonie is a concert hall in the centre of the city near the Grote Markt. Next to it is the Toneelschuur theatre, which also has some movie theatres (often referred to as the "Filmschuur"). The Stadsschouwburg on the Wilsonsplein reopened in 2008 after a major renovation and can seat 698.


title: Haarlem

text: The Cinema Palace was established in 1915 and was one of the oldest cinemas in the Netherlands. It closed definitively on 15 January 2011. The Brinkmann cinema, located on the Grote Markt, closed on 1 February 2012. The only cinema in Haarlem is Pathé Haarlem, located in the newly built Raaks shopping mall. This cinema opened on 5 July 2011.


title: Haarlem

text: The Patronaat is a pop music hall, one of the largest of its kind in the Netherlands. It is a popular night spot among many of the city's residents and others.


title: Haarlem

text: Every year in April the "bloemencorso" (flower parade) takes place. Floats decorated with flowers drive from Noordwijk to Haarlem, where they are exhibited for one day. In the same month there is also a funfair organised on the Grote Markt and the Zaanenlaan in Haarlem-Noord. Other festivals are held on the Grote Markt as well, in particular the annual "Haarlem Jazz & More" (formerly known as "Haarlem Jazzstad)", a music festival, and "Haarlem Culinair", a culinary event, as well as the biannual "Haarlemse Stripdagen" (Haarlem comic days).


title: Haarlem

text: "Bevrijdingspop" is a music festival to celebrate the Dutch liberation from the Nazis after World War II. It is held every year on 5 May, the day that the Netherlands were liberated in 1945, at the Haarlemmerhout. At the same location, the "Haarlemmerhoutfestival" is also held every year, which is a music and theatre festival.


title: Haarlem

text: There are several amateur association football clubs. Haarlem also had a professional football club, HFC Haarlem, which went bankrupt in January 2010. Another Haarlem based football club still in existence is Koninklijke HFC (Royal Haarlemsche Football Club). It was founded by Pim Mulier in 1879 as the first football club in the Netherlands, making it the oldest club in Dutch history.


title: Haarlem

text: Tennis club HLTC Haarlem, founded in 1884, and judo association Kenamju, founded in 1948, are also the oldest Dutch clubs in their sports. RFC Haarlem is a rugby club.


title: Haarlem

text: Haarlem is known for hosting several international sports tournaments as well: the "Haarlemse Honkbalweek" (Haarlem Baseball Week), a baseball event held every two years at the Pim Mulier Stadium (named after Pim Mulier), and the Haarlem Basketball Classic, a basketball event. Haarlem also hosted the 2014 Women's Softball World Championship.


title: Haarlem

text: The first international bandy match was played between Haarlem and Bury Fen Bandy Club in 1891. Some rink bandy exists today.


title: Haarlem

text: Since the 18th century, Haarlem has historically had more museums per inhabitant than any other city of the Netherlands. It also has the highest number of "defunct museums" per inhabitant.


title: Haarlem

text: Haarlem is served by two railway stations of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways). From Haarlem railway station there are 8 trains an hour to Amsterdam, with a journey time of 15 to 20 minutes, 6 trains an hour to Leiden and The Hague (two stations), and 2 trains an hour to Zandvoort aan Zee. On the east of Haarlem, there is Haarlem Spaarnwoude, which has 4 trains per hour to Amsterdam.


title: Haarlem

text: The city is also served by several bus lines of Connexxion. These buses traverse a large region around Haarlem, including Amsterdam. There is a special bus rapid transit too, called the Zuidtangent which is operated by Connexxion. This bus goes from Haarlem to Amsterdam South East via Schiphol Airport.


title: Haarlem

text: The police services in Haarlem are provided by the Kennemerland police corps. The city of Haarlem also employs uniformed municipal enforcement officers, their duties consist of parking, sanitation, traffic, permit enforcement, and patrols throughout the city.


title: Haarlem

text: Beer brewing has been a very important industry for Haarlem going back to the 15th century, when there were no fewer than 100 breweries in the city. When the town's 750th anniversary was celebrated in 1995 a group of enthusiasts re-created an original Haarlem beer and brewed it again. The beer is called Jopenbier, or Jopen for short, named after an old type of beer barrel.


title: Haarlem

text: In 1658, Peter Stuyvesant, the Director-General of the Dutch colony of Nieuw Nederland (New Netherland), founded the settlement of Nieuw Haarlem in the northern part of Manhattan Island as an outpost of Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam) at the southern tip of the island. After the English capture of New Netherland in 1664, the new English colonial administration renamed both the colony and its principal city "New York," but left the name of Haarlem more or less unchanged. The spelling changed to Harlem in keeping with contemporary English usage, and the district grew (as part of the borough of Manhattan) into the vibrant centre of African American culture in New York City and the United States generally by the 20th century.


title: Haarlem

text: On the main square, the Grote Markt, stands a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster, nicknamed 'Lautje' by locals. Laurens Janszoon Coster is credited with being the inventor of a printing press using movable type, since he's said to have invented it simultaneously with Johannes Gutenberg, but only some people believe this. In the past the statue was moved a couple of times. It once stood at the other side of the square and even perched at the Riviervismarkt near the Philharmonie.


title: Haarlem

text: Haarlem is set to ban most meat ads from public spaces because of the food's climate impact, starting from 2024. It is the first city in the world to make such a move.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Armenian genocide recognition is the formal acceptance that the systematic massacres and forced deportation of Armenians committed by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, during and after the First World War, constituted genocide. Most historians outside of Turkey recognize that the Ottoman persecution of Armenians was a genocide. However, despite the recognition of the genocidal character of the massacre of Armenians in scholarship as well as in civil society, some governments have been reticent to officially acknowledge the killings as genocide because of political concerns about their relations with the Republic of Turkey. , governments and parliaments of 33 countries—including the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia and Brazil—have formally recognized the Armenian genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 2015, the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah and Fondapol surveyed 31,172 people between the ages of 16 and 29 living in 31 countries, asking, "In your view, can we talk about genocide in relation to the massacre of the Armenians, by the Turks, in 1915?" 77% of respondents answered in the affirmative. The highest percentage was for France with 93% agreeing and the lowest percentage was for Turkey, with 33% agreeing.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On May 15, 1948, the United Nations Economic and Social Council presented a 384-page report prepared by the United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC), set up in London (October 1943) to collect and collate information on war crimes and war criminals. The report, presented by Lebanese representative Dr Karim Azkoul, was a response to the request by the UN Secretary-General to make arrangements for "the collection and publication of information concerning human rights arising from trials of war criminals, quislings and traitors, and in particular from the Nürnberg and Tokyo Trials." The report had been prepared by members of the Legal Staff of the Commission. The report is highly topical in regard to the Armenian genocide, not only because it uses the 1915 events as a historic example, but also as a precedent to Articles 6 (c) and 5 (c) of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Charters, and thereby as a precursor to the then newly adopted UN Genocide Convention, differentiating between war crimes and crimes against humanity. By referring to the information collected during WWI and put forward by the 1919 Commission of Responsibilities, the report entitled "Information Concerning Human Rights Arising from Trials of War Criminals" used the Armenian case as a vivid example of crimes committed by a state against its own citizens. The report also noted that while the Paris Peace Treaties with Germany, Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria, did not include any reference to "laws of humanity", instead basing the charges on violations of "laws and customs of war", the Sèvres Peace Treaty with Turkey did so. In addition according to Armenian-Swedish historian Avedian Vahagn, Articles 226-228 also did, concerning customs of war (corresponding to Articles 228-230 of the Treaty of Versailles), the Sèvres Treaty also contained an additional Article 230, obviously in compliance with the Allied ultimatum of May 24, 1915, in regard to "crimes [committed] against humanity and civilization".


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 1985, the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities received a report from Special Rapporteur and Sub-Commission member Benjamin Whitaker (United Kingdom) entitled "Revised and Updated Report on the Question of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide" (commonly known as The Whitaker Report), in which the systematic Ottoman massacre of Armenians during World War I was cited as meeting the criteria for the UN definition of genocide and as one of the genocides of the 20th century. His report was received and noted by a resolution at the 38th session of the Sub-Commission in 1985.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 2015, Pope Francis said that the Armenian genocide was "considered the first genocide of the 20th century." The word was not used again, due to strong Turkish backlash, until June 2016, when he reaffirmed and solidified his stance on it constituting a genocide and strongly condemned the enduring denial of the genocide. Turkey responded by accusing the Pope of having a "crusader mentality" against the country. The Vatican strongly denied this, claiming that the Pope had actually called for reconciliation between Armenians and Turks.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 1997 the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) passed a resolution unanimously recognizing the Ottoman massacres of Armenians as genocide:


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The IAGS recognized the 1915 genocide in three different resolutions, on October 5, 2007, extending the recognition to also include the Assyrian genocide and the Greek genocide among the affected minorities:


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The IAGS has consistently identified the Ottoman massacres of Armenians as genocide. For example, on March 7, 2009, in an open letter to President Obama, Gregory Stanton, President IAGS stated "we urge you to 'refer to the mass slaughter of Armenians as genocide in your commemorative statement,' as you urged President George W. Bush to do in a letter dated March 18, 2005".


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In February 2002, an independent legal opinion commissioned by the International Center for Transitional Justice concluded that the Ottoman massacre of Armenians in 1915–1918 "include[d] all of the elements of the crime of genocide as defined in the [Genocide] Convention, and legal scholars as well as historians, politicians, journalists and other people would be justified in continuing to so describe them". However, it also found that legally speaking the Genocide Convention was not retroactive.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 2007, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity wrote a letter signed by 53 Nobel Laureates re-affirming the Genocide Scholars' conclusion that the 1915 killings of Armenians constituted genocide. Wiesel's organization also asserted that Turkish acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide would create no legal "basis for reparations or territorial claims", anticipating Turkish anxieties that it could prompt financial or territorial claims.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On April 15, 2015, the European Parliament backed a motion that calls the massacre a century ago of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces a genocide, days after Pope Francis' message triggered an angry reaction in Turkey for using the same term. It had previously done so in 1987, 2000, 2002 and 2005.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The European Parliament commended the message the pontiff had delivered. Prior to the vote, Turkish president Erdoğan declared that "Turkey will ignore any decision by the European parliament", and that "I personally don't bother about a defence because [Turks] don't carry a stain or a shadow like genocide".


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The Council of Europe passed a resolution on the Armenian genocide on May 14, 2001, which commits only the members who signed it, and appeals “to all the members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to take the necessary steps for the recognition of the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians at the beginning of the 20th century.”


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On November 7, 1989, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution on recognition of the Armenian genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In October 2015, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs published a resolution calling on the U.S. government to recognize the World War I-era Turkish massacres of Armenians as a genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In April 2015, the Central Council of Jews in Germany called on the German government to recognize the World War I mass murder of over one million Armenians in what was then the Ottoman Empire as a genocide. "One hundred years ago, the government of the Ottoman Empire ordered the deportation of one million Armenians. They were murdered directly, or died of starvation and dehydration in the desert," Central Council President Josef Schuster told the newspaper "Der Tagesspiegel". He added: "These terrible events should be called what they were: a genocide." Schuster said the Armenian genocide later served Adolf Hitler and his Nazis as a blueprint for the Holocaust.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On March 3, 2015, the European People's Party (EPP) adopted a resolution recognising and condemning the Armenian genocide as well as paying tribute to the victims in the 100th anniversary. The EPP, which is the largest European political party, has adopted the resolution following the initiative of its sister parties from Armenia. The EPP includes major parties such as the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the French Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), the Spanish People's Party (PP) and it has member parties in all the EU Member States.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 1984, the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal ruled that the Armenian genocide is "an 'international crime' for which the Turkish state must assume responsibility", and that the United Nations and each of its members "have the right to demand this recognition and to assist the Armenian people to that end".


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On June 20, 2014, the Presbyterian Church (USA) adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide and adopting the 2015 church calendar designating April 26 as the day for its observance. It also directed the church's Mission Agency to prepare educational and liturgical resources for member churches in preparation for this event. This resolution was the first of its kind for a major American church body.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Turkey continues to insist that the mass killings of 1915 were not a genocide, a fact which many Europeans take as casting doubt on the Turkish nation's commitment to human rights, causing them to oppose European Union membership a stance for which Turkish-Armenian intellectual Hrant Dink publicly issued condemnation to some countries before he was assassinated in 2007.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On May 24, 1915, during World War I, the Allied Powers (the United Kingdom, France and Russia) jointly issued a statement in which they said that for approximately a month, the Kurdish and Turkish populations of Armenia had been massacring Armenians, with the connivance and often assistance of Ottoman authorities, and that the Allied Powers would hold all officers of the Ottoman Government implicated in such crimes personally responsible for crimes against humanity.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On April 20, 1965, Uruguay became the first nation in the world to officially recognize the Armenian genocide. During the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century, parliaments of several countries have formally recognized the event as genocide. Turkish entry talks with the European Union were met with a number of calls to consider the event as genocide, though it never became a precondition.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: , 33 states had officially recognized the historical events as genocide. Sovereign nations (i.e. UN member-states) officially recognizing the Armenian genocide are:


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Additionally, the City of Ryde adopted a unanimous motion dedicated to the centenary of the Armenian genocide at its Council Meeting on April 14, 2015. The motion further calls upon the Government of Australia to recognize and condemn all genocides. The City of Willoughby passed a motion recognizing the Armenian genocide on May 11, 2015.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Additionally, almost 100 cities throughout Italy have recognized the Armenian genocide, including Rome, Milan, Turin, Venice, Padua, Florence, Genoa, Livorno, Taranto, Trieste, Ancona, Perugia, Reggio Emilia and Parma.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Due to deterioration of relations between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, the country had announced in April 2019 to slowly recognize the Armenian genocide, in response to Turkey's aggressive behaviors.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The verdict of the Istanbul trials, held by the Ottoman government in 1919–1920, acknowledged the massacre of Armenians as "war crimes", and sentenced the perpetrators to death. However, in 1921, during the resurgence of the Turkish National Movement, amnesty was given to those found guilty. Thereafter, the Turkish government, under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, adopted a policy of denial.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: A major obstacle for wider recognition of the genocide in the world is the official position of Turkey, which rests on the assumption that the deportation of Armenians was a legitimate state action. According to the Turkish government, the events of 1915 were a "tragedy" that resulted in "the loss of many innocent lives" but they cannot be described as a genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In December 2008, a group of Turkish intellectuals launched an online petition – named the "I Apologize" campaign ('Özür Diliyorum' in Turkish) – for people wanting to apologize in a personal capacity. The writers of the petition used the word "the Great Catastrophe" regarding the events. The petition gained upwards of 10,000 signatures in a matter of days. In the face of a backlash, then Turkish president Abdullah Gül defended the petition, citing freedom of speech. An opposition group soon launched a website raising an even higher number of signatures. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the time Prime Minister, denied there was anything to apologize for, but also didn't oppose the campaign and a national debate ensued.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Since the "I Apologize" campaign in 2008, every year on April 24, commemoration ceremonies for the genocide are held in several Turkish cities. They started at Taksim Square in Istanbul in 2008, mainly as a result of the nationwide discussion that came after the assassination of Hrant Dink and then spread to Ankara, Diyarbakır, İzmir, Malatya, and Mersin in the following years. The commemorations draw increasing support each year.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Below are the questions asked and the percentages of the answers given in a 2014 poll for The Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM), a Turkish think-tank:


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Answers to the poll varied greatly depending on the political party, from 4.6% of MHP voters who recognize the Armenian genocide to 24.4% of BDP voters. Excluding "No idea/No response", 51% of CHP voters and 44% of BDP voters answered that "Turkey should apologize for the Armenians that lost their lives" or "Turkey should express its regret over the Armenians that lost their lives in 1915 but should not apologize".


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Since 2014, President Erdoğan has sent a message every year on April 24—the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day—to the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, in Turkish and Armenian, to offer his condolences to Armenians for the "events of 1915", without using the word "genocide". It is the first time a Turkish leader has formally offered condolences for the mass killings. In 2021, his message included:


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In a 2015 poll for the Foundation for the Memory of Shoah and Fondapol, 33% of people between the ages of 16 and 29 living in Turkey surveyed answered in the affirmative to the question: "In your view, can we talk about genocide in relation to the massacre of the Armenians, by the Turks, in 1915?".


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In the twentieth century, the only Turkish political movement to recognize the genocide was the Maoist militant group Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (TKP/ML). The genocide has also been recognized by Kurdish political movements including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in its official newspaper in 1982 and the Kurdish parliament-in-exile in 1997. , genocide denial is supported by all major political parties in Turkey, except the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Green Left Party , as well as many pro- and anti-government media and civil society organizations. Both government and opposition parties have strongly reacted to genocide recognition in other countries.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Some Kurdish tribes played a role in the genocide, as they were utilized by the Ottoman authorities to carry out the mass killings. Among modern Kurds, including major Kurdish parties like the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), most of them acknowledge the killings and apologize in the name of their ancestors who committed atrocities toward Armenians and Assyrians in the name of the Ottoman Empire.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: According to a 2014 poll, 24.4% of Turkish citizens who vote for BDP (HDP), which is usually voted by Kurds, accept the Armenian genocide. Excluding those who didn't answer the question in the poll, 44% of BDP voters think that "Turkey should apologize for the Armenians that lost their lives in 1915" or that "Turkey should express its regret over the Armenians that lost their lives in 1915".


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 1951, the United States Department of State did actually exemplify the Armenian case as one of the committed acts of genocide in recent past. This view is evident in the written statement by United States given to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that year, observing that: "The Genocide Convention resulted from the inhuman and barbarous practices which prevailed in certain countries prior to and during World War II, when entire religious, racial and national minority groups were threatened with and subjected to deliberate extermination. The practice of genocide has occurred throughout human history. The Roman persecution of the Christians, the Turkish massacres of Armenians, the extermination of millions of Jews and Poles by the Nazis are outstanding examples of the crime of genocide. This was the background when the General Assembly of the United Nations considered the problem of genocide." That the USA later dramatically changed this position and has since consistently refrained from officially using the term "genocide" about the WWI events can be ascribed to the rise of the Cold War era and Turkey's NATO membership along with the disappearance of Raphael Lemkin as a strong human rights advocate from the ranks of the US State Department.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Several official U.S. documents describe the events as genocide. The United States House of Representatives adopted resolutions commemorating the Armenian genocide in 1975, 1984 and 1996. President Ronald Reagan also described the events as genocide in his speech on April 22, 1981. The legislatures of all 50 U.S. states have made individual proclamations recognising the events of 1915 to 1923 as genocide. As of March 4, 2010, the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs has recognized the massacres of 1915 as genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The United States government first acknowledged the Armenian genocide back in 1951, in a document it submitted to the International Court of Justice, commonly known as the World Court.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: After the tenure of Ronald Reagan, later United States Presidents, until Joe Biden, refused to name the events as such because of concerns over alienating Turkey.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) and the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), advocacy organizations representing the views and values of the Armenian American community in the United States, have been urging Congress and the President of the United States to recognize the genocide by Ottoman Turkey in 1915. They have also asked for an increase of economic aid to Armenia.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved HR 106, a bill that categorized and condemned the Ottoman Empire for the Genocide, on October 10, 2007, by a 27–21 vote. However, some of the support for the bill from both Democrats and Republicans eroded after the White House warned against the possibility of Turkey restricting airspace as well as ground-route access for U.S. military and humanitarian efforts in Iraq in response to the bill. In response to the House Foreign Affairs Committee's decision on the bill, Turkey ordered their ambassador to the United States to return to Turkey for "consultations". The Turkish lobby worked intensely to block the bill's passage.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On January 19, 2008, United States Senator Barack Obama stated that "the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable." He promised to recognize the genocide if elected president. On April 24, 2009, he stated as president: "I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed. My interest remains the achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts." On April 24 commemoration speeches, Obama referred only to the Armenian synonym Mets Eghern ("Mec Eġeṙn"). In 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 2015, and 2016 he did not use the word 'genocide'. In April 2015, Obama sent a Presidential Delegation to Armenia to attend the Centennial Commemoration in Yerevan. Susan E. Rice, Obama's National Security Advisor, encouraged the Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu of Turkey to take concrete steps to improve relations with Armenia and to facilitate an open and frank dialogue in Turkey about the atrocities of 1915.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On October 29, 2019, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution on a 405–11 vote to recognize the Armenian genocide. The United States Senate passed the resolution through unanimous vote on December 12, 2019, defying President Donald Trump who opposed recognition. On April 24, 2020, President Trump issued a statement on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, referring to the events as "one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century".


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On April 24, 2021, on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, President Joe Biden referred to the events as "genocide" in a statement released by the White House, in which the President formally equated the genocide perpetrated against Armenians with atrocities on the scale of those committed in Nazi-occupied Europe.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 2006, the French Parliament submitted a bill to create a law that would punish any person denying the Armenian genocide with up to five years' imprisonment and a fine. Despite Turkish protests, the French National Assembly adopted a bill making it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered genocide in 1915 at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. The bill had been criticized as an attempt to garner votes from among the 600,000 ethnic Armenians of France. This criticism has come not only from within Turkey, but also from Orhan Pamuk. However, the bill was dropped in the summer of 2011 before going to the Senate.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The French Senate passed a bill in 2011 that criminalizes denial of acknowledged genocides, which includes both the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide. The bill was submitted by the parliament in 2012. However, the bill was considered unconstitutional on February 28, 2012, by the French Constitutional Court: "The council rules that by punishing anyone contesting the existence of... crimes that lawmakers themselves recognized or qualified as such, lawmakers committed an unconstitutional attack on freedom of expression".


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The French Senate adopted a new bill on October 14, 2016, that made the denial of the Armenian genocide a crime. The bill was introduced by the French Government and passed by the French National Assembly in July 2016, and stipulates a penalty of a year in prison or a 45,000 fine. However, the law was put down by the French Constitutional Court in January 2017. The Council said the "ruling causes uncertainty regarding expressions and comments on historical matters. Thereby, this ruling is an unnecessary and disproportionate attack against freedom of speech."


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On February 5, 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron declared April 24 as Armenian genocide commemoration day in France.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Due to the period of weak central government and Tehran's inability to protect its territorial integrity when the genocide occurred, Muslim Turks and Kurdish tribes invaded the town of Salmas in northwestern Persia, massacring the Christian Armenian inhabitants after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the region. Prior to the Russian withdrawal, a large number of Christians fled across the Aras river into Russia, while a small number remained hidden in the homes of local Muslims.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh, a prominent Persian writer in the 20th century, studied in Europe where he joined a group of Iranian nationalists in Berlin who were to eventually start a newspaper (Rastakhiz) in Baghdad in 1915. During a trip from Baghdad to Istanbul he witnessed the deportations of Armenians and encountered many Armenian victims and corpses during his journey. He wrote of his experiences and eyewitness accounts decades later in two books entitled "Qatl-e Amm-e Armanian" (, literally; "Armenian massacres") and "Qatl o ḡārat-e Arāmaneh dar Torkiye" (On the massacres of Armenians in Turkey).


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The current government of Iran has not officially acknowledged the Armenian genocide, partially due to geopolitical considerations around relations with Turkey, the perpetrator of the genocide. However Armenia–Iran relations have been largely cordial and Iran is one of Armenia's major trade partners, as Turkey and Azerbaijan have blockaded the country. Some Iranian politicians, such as the reformist president Mohammad Khatami, who visited the Armenian genocide memorial in 2004, have paid respect to the victims of the Armenian genocide in the past. When principlist president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Armenia in 2007, he did not visit the memorial. When asked about it by a student at Yerevan university, he stated "Tehran's position on historical events is very clear, and we condemn all injustices throughout human history." A few current and former members of the Iranian parliament have also made statements indicating recognition of the genocide, including Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, Hadi Khamenei, and Ruhollah Hosseinian, among others.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 2010, Turkey and Iran entered a political dispute after Iranian Vice President Hamid Baghaei allegedly condemned Turkey for the Armenian genocide, while making a comparison related to the WWII-era Invasion of Iran. The tensions were resolved after the Iranian government issued a statement that his comments were taken out of context, and that Baghaei had only made a reference to the issue, without taking any position on the subject. The Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism also promptly issued a statement, saying Iran's official position on the Armenian genocide is identical to that of Turkey, which was followed by the Iranian embassy in Ankara stating the same. In 2015, the Iranian Armenian community called on Hassan Rouhani to officially recognize the Armenian genocide, in order to prevent repeat occurrences of such events in the future.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The devolved legislatures of Scotland and Wales have formally recognised the Armenian genocide. The government of the United Kingdom does not recognize the Armenian genocide, as it considers that the evidence is not clear enough to retrospectively consider "the terrible events that afflicted the Ottoman Armenian population at the beginning of the last century" to be genocide under the 1948 UN convention. The British government states the "massacres were an appalling tragedy" and condemns them, stating that this was the view of the government during that period. In 2006, an early day motion recognising the Armenian genocide by the UK Parliament was signed by 182 MPs.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: However, in 2007, the position of the British government was that it condemns the massacres, but "neither this Government nor previous British 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, a convention which is, in any event, not retrospective in application." In 2009, the lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC revealed in a disclosure of Foreign Office documents entitled ""Was there an Armenian Genocide?"", how the British Parliament has routinely been misinformed and misled by ministers who have recited FCO briefs without questioning their accuracy. As summarized by Robertson, "there was no 'evidence' that had ever been looked at and there had never been a 'judgment' at all." A 1999 Foreign Office briefing for ministers said that the recognition of the Armenian genocide would provide no practical benefit to the UK and goes on to say that ""The current line is the only feasible option" owing to "the importance of our relations (political, strategic and commercial) with Turkey"". The Foreign Office documents furthermore include advice from 1995 to the then Conservative foreign minister, Douglas Hogg, that he should refuse to attend a memorial service for the victims of the genocide. As of 2015, the United Kingdom does not formally recognise the Ottoman Empire's massacres of Armenians as a "genocide". In 2021, Labour MP John Spellar has introduced a private Members Bill to recognise the genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: James Bryce (1838–1922), 1st Viscount Bryce, was one of the first Britons to bring this issue to public attention.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Germany was an ally of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, and many German military officers were complicit in letting the genocide happen, and were also supporting the Ottoman Empire in fear that Armenians would collaborate with Russia at the time; several German figures like Hans Humann and Hans von Seeckt also demonstrated support for the Ottomans. These actions were the seeds for the future Holocaust by Nazi Germany as many were inspired by the gruesome Armenian genocide. British journalist Robert Fisk, while acknowledging the role playing by most German diplomats and parliamentaries in the condemnation of the Ottoman Turks, noted that some of the German witnesses to the Armenian holocaust would later go on to play a role in the Nazi regime. For example, Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath, who was attached to the Turkish 4th Army in 1915 with instructions to monitor "operations" against the Armenians, later became Adolf Hitler's foreign minister and "Protector of Bohemia and Moravia" during Reinhard Heydrich's terror in Czechoslovakia.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Despite this, many other German officers had also openly disapproved the genocide and were appalled to see it happen. Count Paul Wolff Metternich was an eyewitness who received numerous messages about the brutal Armenian genocide and deportation, and the Ottomans' determination to exterminate Armenians; his successor Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim also experienced similar story and documented the genocide. Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, who documented various massacres of Armenians, had sent fifteen reports regarding "deportations and mass killings" to the German chancellery and detailed methods by the Ottoman government to commit atrocities and cover-up attempts by the Ottomans. German writer Armin T. Wegner had defied state censorship by taking photographs about the Armenian genocide. He later stated: "I venture to claim the right of setting before you these pictures of misery and terror which passed before my eyes during nearly two years, and which will never be obliterated from my mind.". He was eventually arrested by the Germans and recalled to Germany, but his work and open defiance toward the Ottoman censorship had made him a venerated name in Armenia for championing the cause in difficult times.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Germany, in 2005, had decided to acknowledge the Armenian genocide for the first time. The solution was later extended in 2016, causing tensions between Germany and Turkey to rise.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Austria-Hungary was an ally of the Ottoman Empire and ignored numerous requests for help from the Armenian Catholicos in 1915. Reports about the genocide were suppressed by Marktgraf Johann von Pallavicini (Austrian ambassador in Istanbul). Austrian newspapers kept silent about the genocide and adopted anti-Armenian stereotypes in their coverage of the defense of Van. The writer Franz Werfel, in his book The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, published in 1933, describes the beginning of the genocide from the perspective of the Armenians; it was later banned by the Nazis.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 2015, the Austrian Parliament recognized and condemned the genocide of Armenian citizens. The Austrian government then called upon the government of Turkey to recognize the events of 1915-1916 as genocide. Turkey responded that they were 'disappointed' and implied Austria was presenting only the Armenian version of events.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: At present, China has not recognized the Armenian genocide. However, China has historically had an adverse relationship with the Turkic world, especially due to recent Xinjiang conflict when Turkey has been accused of sponsoring pan-Turkist separatists against China. At the same time, anti-Chinese sentiment is also present in Turkey and other Turkic countries, most notably during the July 2009 Ürümqi riots, and news about the Uyghurs and other Turkic people in Xinjiang have always been a sensitive issue on Chinese–Turkish relations.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: As such, skepticism towards Turkey from China has resulted in a greater call for solidarity to the Armenian people in China, since relations between modern China and Armenia are friendly. During the Armenian genocide, China hosted a small number of Armenian refugees, mostly concentrated around Harbin and Tianjin, prompting expressions of gratitude from the survivors. China has been accused by Turkey of aiding Armenia with reference to the Ararat Mountain, the supposedly sacred mountain in Armenian mythology which lies inside modern Turkish borders, which Ankara believed Beijing is trying to help Armenia reinforce claims over Turkish territory. Calls for recognition of the genocide in China also gather attention, notably in 2009 when the Turkish government blamed Chinese administration for the Uyghur–Han tensions, and in 2014 when a group of Armenian musicians authorized by Beijing performed classical Armenian musical pieces in commemoration of the centenary of the genocide in China.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 2011, erstwhile Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi laid flowers on the Armenian genocide memorial in Yerevan.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Australia does not view the events at the end of the Ottoman Empire as a genocide, although it doesn't deny it happened. Australia is one of the countries who were at war with the Ottoman Empire at the time of the events, notably during the Gallipoli Campaign. Australia does acknowledge the tragic events had devastating effects on the identity, heritage, and culture of all the people in the areas that the events have occurred. Furthermore, in response to the motions of New South Wales and South Australia to recognize the events as genocide the Foreign Minister of Australia has clarified on June 4, 2014, that Australian states and territories have no constitutional role in the formulation of the Australian foreign policy, and that Australia does not view the tragic events at the end of the Ottoman Empire as a genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Officially Israel neither recognizes nor denies the Armenian genocide. This stems from a few geopolitical considerations. First, according to "The Times of Israel", "Israel is a small country in a hostile neighborhood that can't afford to antagonize the few friends it has in the region. Even more powerful states refuse to employ the 'genocide' term for fear of alienating Turkey..." Second, Israel shares a "budding friendship" with Azerbaijan, a "Shiite Muslim but moderate country bordering Iran" that also strongly opposes recognition. Third, according to former Israeli minister Yossi Sarid (one of the country's most vocal supporters of Armenian genocide recognition), Israel tends to follow policies set by the United States, which had not recognized it. Despite these concerns, many prominent Israeli figures from different sides of the political spectrum have called for recognition.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 2003, the Catholicos of All Armenian Karekin II visited the then Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger who accepted an invitation by Karekin II to visit Armenia, a trip that he made in 2005, including a visit to the Tsitsernakaberd (the Genocide Memorial in Yerevan). While doing so he formally recognised the Armenian genocide as a historical fact. A 2007 survey found that more than 70% of Israelis thought that Israel should recognize the genocide, with 44% willing to break off relations with Turkey over the issue.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Israel appeared to move closer to officially recognizing the genocide in 2011 when the Knesset held its first open discussion on the matter. By a unanimous vote of 20–0, the Knesset approved referring the subject to the Education Committee for more extensive deliberation. Israel's speaker of the Knesset told an Israel-based Armenian action committee that he intended to introduce an annual parliamentary session to mark the genocide. A special parliamentary session held in 2012 to determine if Israel would recognize the Armenian genocide ended inconclusively. Then–Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and Cabinet Minister Gilad Erdan were among those supporting formal recognition by the government. The recognition was not approved at that time and in 2015, Rafael Harpaz, Israel's ambassador to Azerbaijan, said in an interview that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has made it clear that Israel will not recognize the Armenian genocide, given Israel's hopes that its political and economic relationship with Turkey can improve. Another great concern is Azerbaijan, which is Israel's main oil supplier, a buyer of Israeli arms, and a Muslim ally in the global coalition against Iran.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: MKs supporting recognition have acknowledged the effect it could have on Israel–Azerbaijan and Israel–Turkey relations. As then Knesset Spokesperson Rivlin said, "Turkey is and will be an ally of Israel. The talks with Turkey are understandable and even necessary from a strategic and diplomatic perspective. But those circumstances cannot justify the Knesset ignoring the tragedy of another people" and Ayelet Shaked (of the religious-nationalist Jewish Home party) said: "We must confront our silence and that of the world in the face of such horrors." In 2000, then–education minister Yossi Sarid, chairman of the dovish Meretz party, announced plans to place the Armenian genocide on Israel's history curricula. As a result of Sarid's 2000 speech to an Armenian church in Jerusalem recognizing their genocide, he became persona non grata in Turkey. Meretz has long fought for recognition of the genocide. Zehava Galon, a successor of Sarid as Meretz leader, has initiated several motions in the Knesset calling for the government to recognize the Armenian genocide. In 2013 she said, "Reconciliation with Turkey is an important and strategic move, but it should not affect the recognition." Her 2014 motion also enjoyed much support on the Knesset floor, including that of Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein. Galon has also paid her respects at local Armenian memorial services.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Rivlin, the former president of Israel, was one of the Knesset's most outspoken proponents of recognition. It was reported in 2014 that due to the sensitivities of Israel's relationship with Turkey, Rivlin was quietly distancing himself from the Israeli campaign to recognize the Armenian genocide and chose not to sign the annual petition, which he had previously done. Still, Israel has taken greater steps toward Armenian genocide recognition under Rivlin's presidency. Rivlin was the first Israeli president to speak at the United Nations on the issue. During the United Nations Holocaust Memorial on January 28, 2015, President Rivlin spoke about the Armenian tragedy. It was observed that in his speech he used the phrase רצח בני העם הארמני "reẓaḥ bnei haʿam haArmeni", which means "the murder of the members of the Armenian nation," coming close to the Hebrew term for genocide, רצח עם "reẓaḥ ʿam". In addition, 2015 marked the first time that Israel sent a delegation—Nachman Shai (Zionist Union) and Anat Berko (Likud)—to Yerevan for the official memorial event. In an event billed as the first to be held by an Israeli president to commemorate the tragedy, Rivlin also invited Armenian communal and religious leader's to his official residence on April 26, 2015. He said we are "morally obligated to point out the facts, as horrible as they might be, we must not ignore them." As he skirted using the term "genocide," some Armenian leaders were disappointed, though still thankful for the event. However, it was later reported that earlier that same month, while briefing foreign journalists in English, Rivlin had in fact referred to the killings as genocide, saying: It was Avshalom Feinberg, one of my eldest brothers, who said 25 years before the Holocaust that if we do not warn against what is going on with the Armenians, what will happen afterwards when they try to do to us…? There is a saying that the Nazis used the Armenian genocide as something that gave them permission to bring the Holocaust into reality, according to their belief that they have to discriminate against the Jewish people. 'Never again' belongs to every one of you, all the nations. We cannot allow something like that to happen."


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 2015, a group of distinguished Israeli academics, artists, and former generals and politicians signed a petition calling on Israel to follow the Pope's lead and recognize the genocide. The signatories included author Amos Oz, historian Yehuda Bauer, Major General (ret.) Amos Yadlin, former Likud minister Dan Meridor and about a dozen former MKs and ministers.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem on May 9, 2016. Concluding his speech he said, that "the Armenians were massacred in 1915. My parents remember thousands of Armenian migrants finding asylum at the Armenian Church. No one in Israel denies that an entire nation was massacred."


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On August 1, 2016, the Knesset Committee on Education, Culture and Sports recognized the Armenian genocide. In response to rising tensions between Turkey and Israel since 2010s, the Israeli lobbies had refused to assist Turkey and Azerbaijan over the Armenian genocide dispute, which was partially responsible for the recognition of Armenian genocide by the U.S. Congress.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The Russian Empire had fought the World War I as part of the Entente and thus it had conflicted with the Ottoman Empire. As such, Russian position toward the Armenian genocide was stemmed from the historical experience, where Russian troops frequently encountered deserted and destroyed villages, remains of Armenians, and mass atrocities committed against Armenian civilians by the Ottoman troops, which was reported by Mikhail Papadyanov, Russian State Duma representative in Baku. Russia was obliged to assist the Armenian civilians fleeing from genocide, and Russia had established humanitarian relief groups to deliver needed aids and supports for ethnic Armenians. In 1916, shocking scenes obtained from Erzurum led the Russians to retaliate against the Ottoman III Army whom they held responsible for the massacres, destroying it in its entirety.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: As for the result of this historical confrontation with the Ottomans, current poor relations between Russia and Turkey with regard to conflict in Syria, and its strong relations with the Armenians from 19th century onward, with Russia acted as a protector to the Christians including Armenians, Russia had acknowledged the Armenian genocide in 1995. In 2016, then-Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, laid flowers in remembrance to the victims of Armenian genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Japan was part of the Entente during World War I, but was not involved in the European front of the conflict as Japanese activities concentrated around China and other Asian territories. However, during the gruesome genocide, the Japanese had first reported about it and thus participated in the relief efforts to save the Armenian population. The effort was done by Viscount Shibusawa Eiichi, who was alarmed by the ongoing massacre of the Armenian population. However, as a result of its eventual role in World War II, Japanese war crimes had been widely compared to the Ottoman war crimes; thus Japan has been reluctant to acknowledge the genocide due to fear of political backlash.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Finland has not recognized the Armenian genocide while Sweden recognized the genocide in 2010. However, in August 2022 the Left Youth Organization in Finland urged the Government to recognize the Armenian genocide. In June 2021, Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen called on the Government to recognize the Armenian genocide. In September 2005, former Finnish President Tarja Halonen visited Tsitsernakaberd. In February 2016, former Swedish Foreign minister Margot Wallström visited Tsitsernakaberd.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Poland has a historically strong relationship with Turkey because its predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, had rejected the Partitions of Poland, and many Poles had supported the Ottomans against Russia on their quest to regain independence from Russia, Austria and Germany. Poland also supports Turkey to integrate further within the European Union, which Poland is a member of.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Despite this strong Polish–Turkish relationship however, Poland officially recognized the Armenian genocide in 2005. Prominent Polish politicians such as Lech Wałęsa had urged Turkey to acknowledge the genocide, where he made his speech in Echimadzin about the genocide, calling it "the first genocide of the 20th century". The move was criticized in Turkey.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Regarding Romania, in 2006, the President Traian Băsescu was asked if Romania would follow France and other Western states in recognizing the genocide. He then declared "we will not do anything affecting our neutrality in our relations with all the countries of the Black Sea region" and said Romania did not want to risk worsening relations with Turkey. Băsescu said Armenia was complicating Turkey's integration into the European Union by continuously raising the issue in the international community. However, over the next several years, pressure for Romania to recognize the event grew. In 2016, Cătălin Avramescu, advisor to the then ex-president Băsescu, said "Romania has special duty to recognize Armenian Genocide"; while the Romanian-Armenian politician Varujan Vosganian, who is president of the Union of Armenians of Romania, called on the Romanian Parliament in 2019 to do the same. In one poll, it was found that 72% of the Romanians surveyed were aware of the Armenian genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On the other hand, Moldova has expressed greater tolerance for the possibility, which has even been considered in the Moldovan Parliament, although this is unlikely due to the good relations between Moldova and Turkey and the desire not to deteriorate them.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Historically, Saudi Arabia had backed Turkey over the Armenian genocide and was one of the few countries in the world to not acknowledge the independence of Armenia; Saudi Arabia also sided with Azerbaijan, the main ally of Turkey, owing by Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, increasing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Turkey have resulted in Saudi Arabia slowly paying attention to the Armenian genocide, with government-run newspapers starting to mention the Armenian genocide, and anti-Turkish boycotts on the rise in the Saudi Kingdom as well.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In April 2019, Saudi Arabia sponsored the final solution to recognize the Armenian genocide, which the U.S. Senate eventually recognized. Saudi Arabian ambassador in Lebanon had also paid a visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial to demonstrate Saudi solidarity to Armenia. During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Saudi Arabia had called for boycott goods from Turkey after Turkish President Erdoğan openly blamed Saudi Arabia for the tensions in the Caucasus and the Middle East. Vahram Ayvazyan, a trainee of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, called for Saudi Arabia and Armenia to establish relations to counter rising Turkish imperialism and genocidal manner, as he mentioned the genocide in Arabs by the Turkish Ottoman Empire along with Armenian genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On the other hand, however, Saudi Arabia also needs to have leverage on relations with Azerbaijan, as Saudi Arabia has seen Azerbaijan as a potential place to destabilize Iran, an ally of Armenia but also Turkey and Saudi Arabia's adversary, thus Saudi Arabia takes its action carefully, although Saudi opposition to Turkey has soared.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: India has not recognised the Armenian genocide. However, during World War I, when India was under British colonial rule, the country found itself at war against the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of Turkey. Many Armenians sought refuge in India, most notably in Calcutta. With the relations between India and Turkey worsened since the 2010s, mainly due to Turkey's open support for Pakistan, which also shares similar stance with Turkey, there has been growing call for recognition of the genocide in India. For the first time, under the Premiership of Narendra Modi, the Indian embassy in Armenia has mentioned the genocide and Indian ambassador Kishan Dan Dewal also paid respect to the victims of the genocide in 2021.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Azerbaijan, which is in a strategic alliance with Turkey and is in conflict with Armenia because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, shares the position of Turkey. During the Communist rule, when Azerbaijan was a part of the USSR, a brief description of the Armenian genocide was placed in the "Azerbaijani Soviet Encyclopedia". Azerbaijan has actively lobbied against genocide recognition in other countries.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Pakistan also supports the position of Turkey regarding the Armenian Genocide, with the Foreign Ministry calling U.S. recognition “one-sided and political”.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Denmark believes (2008) that the genocide recognition should be discussed by historians, not politicians. However, on January 26, 2017, the Danish Parliament adopted a resolution regarding the Armenian genocide, which recognizes the "tragic and bloody events that took place in eastern Anatolia in the period 1915–1923".


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In Bulgaria, activists first tried to persuade the parliament to acknowledge the genocide in 2008, but the proposal was voted down. Shortly after the decision of the parliament, several of the biggest municipalities in Bulgaria accepted a resolution recognising the genocide. The resolution was first passed in Plovdiv followed by Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora, Pazardzhik and others. In 2015, however, the Bulgarian parliament adopted a declaration recognising the "mass extermination of the Armenian People in the Ottoman Empire" in the period 1915–1922, but did not use the word "genocide".


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Croatia and Serbia, two Balkan countries with shared Christian history to Armenia, have been reluctant to recognize the Armenian genocide due to economic relations with Turkey. However, the two countries had fought brutal Yugoslav Wars, both against and together toward the Bosniaks, a South Slavic Muslim people with strong Turkish affinity. This resulted in the Srebrenica massacre of 1995, where Serbian force massacred 8,372 Bosniaks. Croatia and Bosnia have spats with each other due to Croatian war crimes on Bosniak civilians during the Bosnian War, notably surrounding the deceased-war criminal Slobodan Praljak. Turkey has recognized the Srebrenica massacre and has frequently used it to condemn other countries for "hypocrisies", as it did with the Netherlands and Vatican, while Turkey at the same time openly denied the Armenian genocide. Croatia and Serbia have both faced similar pressures from the Turkish government to not allow any official recognition of the Armenian genocide, while at the same time openly lambasting the Srebrenica massacre, which sometimes caused tensions between two Balkan nations to Turkey.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 2001, Abd al-Qadir Qaddura, speaker of the Syrian Parliament, became the first high-ranking Syrian official to acknowledge the Armenian genocide when he wrote in the Book of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide Monument and Museum in Yerevan. Although Assad did not use the world genocide, two days after Assad's statement, Bashar Jaafari, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, stated, "How about the Armenian genocide where 1.5 million people were killed?"


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: Deterioration of relations between Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to Turkey had led to calls for recognition of Armenian genocide to grow in here as well. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi also in April 2019 had become the first place in the United Arab Emirates to openly acknowledge the Armenian genocide. Earlier, in February 2019, the President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi addressed his recognition of the Armenian genocide during the 2019 Munich Security Conference and urged for complete recognition of the genocide by Egypt.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: By the 1970s, Armenian Americans, who had accumulated some wealth and political power, started efforts to lobby the U.S. government to recognize the genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) lobby for recognition in the United States Congress, often in opposition to the Turkish lobby.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: During the later stages of the Cold War, fringe militant movements among Armenians arose. One of the goals of these Armenian militants was to agitate world governments for Turkish and international recognition of the Armenian genocide. Attacks on Turkish diplomats were committed in Europe, Asia and America. Two active groups which committed many of these attacks were the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and the Armenian Revolutionary Army (ARA); both organizations stopped their military activities in the late 1980s.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The Armenian community in Kolkata, India, numbering approximately 150 people, travel to the St John's Church in Chinsurah, annually, to observe Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. The community, along with visitors from countries such as Iran, Lebanon and Moscow held a memorial service at the 300-year-old Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth in Kolkata to mark the 100th anniversary of the genocide. Armenian students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi organised a candle lighting ceremony in the university campus and at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in the city to mark the anniversary. A commemoration ceremony was also held at the Armenian Church in Chennai.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On March 29, 2000, the Swedish parliament approved a report recognizing the Armenian genocide and calling for Turkey's greater openness and an "unbiased independent and international research on the genocide committed against the Armenian people". On June 12, 2008, the Swedish parliament voted by 245 to 37 (with 1 abstention, 66 absences) to reject a call for recognition of the 1915 genocide of the Ottoman Empire. On June 11 a long debate took place in the Swedish Parliament in regard to the Foreign Committee report on Human Rights, including five motions calling upon the Swedish Government and Parliament to officially recognize the genocide. The MPs adhered to the recommendation by the Swedish Foreign Ministry and Foreign Committee, arguing that there are "disagreements among scholars" in regard to the nature of the World War I events in Turkey, the non-retroactive nature of the UN Genocide Convention, and that the issue "should be left to historians". However, the Foreign Committee report stated that "the Committee understands that what happened to Armenians, Assyrians/Syriacs and Chaldeans during the Ottoman Empire's reign would probably be regarded as genocide according to the 1948 convention, if it had been in power at the time of the event". Three days prior to the debate in the Parliament, a petition, signed by over 60 renowned genocide scholars, was published, calling on politicians in general, and Swedish parliamentarians in particular, not to abuse the name of science in denying a historic fact. On March 11, 2010, the Swedish parliament recognized the genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In 2001, Abd al-Qadir Qaddura, speaker of the Syrian Parliament, became the first high-ranking Syrian official to acknowledge the Armenian genocide when he wrote in the Book of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide Monument and Museum in Yerevan: "As we visit the Memorial and Museum of the Genocide that the Armenian nation suffered in 1915, we stand in full admiration and respect in front of those heroes that faced death with courage and heroism. Their children and grandchildren continued after them to immortalize their courage and struggle. … With great respect we bow our heads in memory of the martyrs of the Armenian nation — our friends — and hail their ability for resoluteness and triumph. We will work together to liberate every human being from aggression and oppression." In 2014 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad became the first Syrian head of state to acknowledge the mass murders of Armenians and identify the perpetrator as Ottoman Turkey, stating, "The degree of savagery and inhumanity that the terrorists have reached reminds us of what happened in the Middle Ages in Europe over 500 years ago. In more recent modern times, it reminds us of the massacres perpetrated by the Ottomans against the Armenians, when they killed a million and a half Armenians and half a million Orthodox Syriacs in Syria and in Turkish territory." Although Assad did not use the world genocide, two days after Assad's statement, Bashar Jaafari, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, stated, "How about the Armenian genocide where 1.5 million people were killed?"


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On September 9, 2004, President Mohammad Khatami of Iran visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial at Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On June 15, 2005, the German Bundestag passed a resolution that "honors and commemorates the victims of violence, murder and expulsion among the Armenian people before and during the First World War". The German resolution also states:


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: The expressions "organized expulsion and extermination" resulting in the "almost complete destruction of Armenians" is sufficient in any language to amount to formal recognition of the Armenian genocide, although of course the crime of 'genocide' had not been legally defined in 1915. The Resolution also contains an apology for German responsibility as a then ally of Turkey.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On September 4, 2006, Members of the European Parliament voted for the inclusion of a clause prompting Turkey "to recognize the Armenian genocide as a condition for its EU accession" in a highly critical report, which was adopted by a broad majority in the foreign relations committee of the European Parliament. This requirement was later dropped on September 27, 2006, by the general assembly of the European Parliament by 429 votes in favor to 71 against, with 125 abstentions.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: In dropping the pre-condition of acceptance of the Armenian genocide, (which could not be legally demanded of Turkey), The European Parliament said: "MEPs nevertheless stress that, although the recognition of the Armenian genocide as such is formally not one of the Copenhagen criteria, it is indispensable for a country on the road to membership to come to terms with and recognize its past."


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On September 26, 2006, the two largest political parties in the Netherlands, Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the Labour Party (PvdA), removed three Turkish-Dutch candidates for the 2006 general election, because they either denied or refused to publicly declare that the Armenian genocide had happened. The magazine "HP/De Tijd" reported that the number 2 of the PvdA list of candidates, Nebahat Albayrak (who was born in Turkey and is of Turkish descent) had acknowledged that the term "genocide" was appropriate to describe the events. Albayrak denied having said this and accused the press of putting words in her mouth, saying that "I'm not a politician that will trample my identity. I've always defended the same views everywhere with regard to the 'genocide'". It was reported that a large section of the Turkish minority were considering boycotting the elections. Netherlands' Turkish minority numbers 365,000 people, out of which 235,000 are eligible to vote.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On November 29, 2006, the lower house of Argentina's parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide. The bill was overwhelmingly adopted by the assembly and declared April 24, the international day of remembrance for the Armenian genocide as an official "day of mutual tolerance and respect" among peoples around the world.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On April 20, 2007, the Basque Parliament approved an institutional declaration recognising the Armenian genocide. The Basque Parliament included six articles where it affirms the authenticity of the Armenian genocide and declares sympathy to the Armenians, while at the same time denouncing Turkey's negation of the genocide and its economic blockade imposed on Armenia.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On June 5, 2007, the Chilean Senate unanimously adopted legislation recognising the Armenian genocide and urging its government to support a key 1985 United Nations Subcommission report describing this crime against humanity as a clear instance of genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On November 23, 2007, the Mercosur parliament adopted a resolution recognising the "Armenian Genocide, perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire, which took 1.5 million lives from 1915 to 1923". The Mercosur resolution also expressed its support for the Armenian Cause and called on all countries to recognize the genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On March 5, 2010, the Catalan Parliament recognized the Armenian genocide on the initiative of the members of Barcelona's Friendship Union with Armenia.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On March 11, 2010, the Swedish Parliament voted to describe the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as genocide. The resolution was adopted with 131 deputies voting in favour of the resolution and 130 voting against it.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On March 25, 2010, the Serbian Radical Party submitted a draft resolution to the Serbian parliament condemning the genocide committed by Ottoman Turkey against Armenians from 1915 to 1923. SRS submitted the draft so that Serbia can join the countries which have condemned the genocide. As of March 10, 2014, Serbia does not recognize the events as a genocide, thus it can be said the draft has failed.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On February 17, 2011, Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi paid tribute to the memory of the Armenian genocide victims during his visit to Armenia. He also met with the head of Armenia's national church, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, and discussed the recognition of the Armenian genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: During his meeting with Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan in January 2014, the Czech President Miloš Zeman stated: "Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. In 1915 1.5 million Armenians were killed."


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On June 20, 2014, the Presbyterian Church (USA) adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide and adopted the 2015 church calendar designating April 26 as the day for its observance. It also directed the church's Mission Agency to prepare educational and liturgical resources for member churches in preparation for this event. This resolution was the first of its kind for a major American church body.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On June 23, 2014, the parliament of Spain's autonomous community of Navarre adopted a measure recognizing the Armenian genocide. The measure came after a series of visits by members of the Navarre parliament to Armenia and Artsakh.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On November 26, 2014, the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia unanimously passed a resolution in solidarity with the claims of the Armenian people and condemning "all denialist policy regarding the genocide and crimes against humanity suffered by the Armenian nation."


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On March 11, 2015, American actor George Clooney showed solidarity and support in a day of remembrance marking the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide at an event in New York City. Clooney took to the stage and spoke about the significance of the centennial and of recognizing the genocide. Clooney was joined by his wife Amal Clooney, who went before Europe's top human rights court in January, representing Armenia, to argue against a man convicted of denying the 1915 Armenian genocide.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On March 17, 2015, the People's Council of Syria — during a session dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the genocide — condemned the Ottoman Empire for its responsibility for the Armenian genocide. The speaker of the parliament Mohammad Jihad al-Laham issued a statement on behalf of the members, where he expressed solidarity with the Armenians worldwide in their struggle for justice.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On March 27, 2015, Armenian and Greek youth held a protest in the Greek capital of Athens. Protesters demanded that European Union member states end denial policies, recognize the Armenian genocide, and subject deniers to criminal liability. The protesters further called on the European Union to pressure Turkey to recognize the genocide and take action to compensate for the material and non-material losses and restoration of the historic rights of the Armenian nation.


title: Armenian genocide recognition

text: On April 2, 2015, the popular Armenian-American band System of a Down embarked on their Wake Up The Souls Tour, which kicked off April 6 and culminated with the band's first performance in Armenia's capital city of Yerevan on April 23. "The goal is to raise awareness about the Armenian genocide, and also to put the idea into people's minds that justice can prevail, even if it's been a hundred years," said band member Serj Tankian. The group visited a total of 14 cities across the world.