Armenian Genocide Issue Finally Closed in UK Parliament

The British House of Lords has rejected a proposal by the British-Armenian community to recognize the Armenian Genocide and declare April 24 in Britain as a commemoration day for genocide victims, Lord Kilclooney said in an interview with Turkish news agency Cihan.

According to Turkish media, it was British State Minister Baroness Kinnock who put an end to the discussions over the genocide on March 29.

Saying that the 1915 events were a human tragedy and that they sympathized with the Armenians who suffered losses during those years, the State Minister recalled Britain’s official stance over the Armenian Genocide.

“The British Government cannot make a statement which would halt the Armenia-Turkey normalization process,” said Kinnock, adding that “there are no legal grounds to consider the 1915 events as genocide.”

“For that reason it would not be right for the British Government to recognize those events as genocide,” added the Baroness.

Earlier, on March 29, the House of Lords had held discussions on the Armenian Genocide initiated by Baroness Caroline Cocks who presented the main facts of the Genocide and the documentary facts in Britain’s possession, calling on the government to join civilized nations around the world and recognize the Armenian Genocide.

“The British Government remembers the sorrowful events in the beginning of the century but cannot take a step that would hinder Armenia-Turkey rapprochement,” Kinnock had said in response to Cocks’ request.