People’s Council of Syria held Tuesday, March 17, a special session dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
“Looming days coincide with the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, committed by the Ottoman Empire. We express our unconditional solidarity with friendly Armenian people, as well as our Syrian Armenian compatriots, who became victims to the heinous genocide by the Ottoman authorities. Today we commemorate the most horrible and tragic event in the history. We call on the international community and all the peoples in the world to fight against the murderers, executioners and terrorism that threaten the Middle East in order for us to prevent further crimes against humanity, civilization and history,” parliament speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Laham said in his opening remarks.
The speaker invited the MPs to honor the memory of more than 1.5 million innocent victims with a moment of silence.
During the session, more than 20 parliamentarians from different groups and chairpersons of permanent commissions delivered speeches, strongly condemning the severe crime committed against the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire and calling upon the international community to condemn first genocide committed in the 20th century.
The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.
The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.
Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.
The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, majority of U.S. states, parliaments of Greece, Cyprus, Argentina, Belgium and Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Chamber of Commons of Canada, Polish Sejm, Vatican, European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.