Countries that recognize the Armenian Genocide are 29 as of 2017, including 48 US states out of 50. The Armenian Genocide recognition is vital as it has facts on the massacre committed by the Ottoman Empire.
Countries that recognize the Armenian genocide are the ones that formally accept the systematic massacres and forced deportation of Armenians implemented by the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1923.
Although historian and academic institutions on Holocaust and genocide studies accept the Armenian Genocide, many countries refuse to do so in order to maintain their political relations with the Republic of Turkey. Azerbaijan and Turkey are the only countries that refuse to recognize the Armenian Genocide and threaten economic and diplomatic consequences to the ones who do.
The Armenian Genocide memorial complex was built in 1967 on the hill of Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan. The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, opened in 1995, presents facts about the horror of the massacres.
Turkey has been urged to recognize the Armenian Genocide multiple times, but the sad fact is that the government denies the word “genocide” as an accurate term for the massacres.
Facts about countries that recognize the Armenian Genocide, the memorial and criminalize the denial
The Entente Powers issued a statement on May 24, 1915, saying that officers of the Ottoman Government involved in the Armenian Genocide would be personally held responsible for crimes against humanity. Parliaments of several countries began recognizing the event as genocide starting from the second half of the 20th century.
- The left-libertarian and green Turkish political party, The Green Left Party, is the only one recognizing the Armenian Genocide within the country.
- Uruguay became the first country to recognize in 1965 and later in 2004.
- Cyprus was next to be the country that recognized the Armenian genocide: first in 1975, 1982 and 1990. Moreover, it became the first to raise the issue to the UN General Assembly. Denying the Armenian Genocide is also criminalized in Cyprus.
- France also criminalized the denial of the Armenian Genocide in 2016 after recognizing it in 1998 and 2001. After the adoption of the bill that criminalized in on October 14, 2016, it was passed by the French National Assembly in July 2017. It stipulates a penalty of a year in prison or a €45,000 fine.
- Greece recognized the event as genocide in 1996 and according to a 2014 act, the denial is punishable up to 3 years in prison and a fine which is not to exceed €30,000.
Countries That Recognize The Armenian Genocide: Switzerland and laws on the memorial
Switzerland recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2003, where denial is a crime. Doğu Perinçek, a Turkish politician, lawyer and chairman of the left-wing nationalist Patriotic Party, became the first person to receive a criminal conviction for denial of the Armenian Genocide. The ruling was done by a Swiss court in 2007.
Perinçek’s case was a result of him describing the Armenian Genocide as an international lie in Lausanne in 2005. His case was appealed to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. His judgment was in his favor on the grounds of free speech. According to the court: “Mr. Perinçek was making a speech of a historical, legal and political nature in a contradictory debate.”
Although sentenced to life imprisonment in August 2013, he was eventually released in 2014. After his release, he sided with the Justice and Development Party and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Facts about countries that recognize the Armenian Genocide and the memorial
- The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg announced the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in 2015 after the Chamber of Deputies unanimously adopted a resolution.
- Brazil’s resolution on the recognition of the massacres was approved by the Federal Senate.
- As for Bolivia, the genocide recognition resolution was approved unanimously by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies with the support of the Foreign Ministry.
- Bulgaria became another country that recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2015, but it was fo