Cyprus criminalizes denial of 1915 Armenian genocide by Turks

[Luiz 4,253]

Cyprus on Thursday made it a crime to deny that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenian Turks a century ago, a move likely to rile its old rival Turkey as peace talks on the ethnically-split island remain stalled.

The Cypriot parliament passed a resolution penalising denial of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, modifying existing legislation, which required prior conviction by an international court to make denial a crime.

"Today is a historic day," speaker of parliament Yiannakis Omirou said. "It allows parliament to restore, with unanimous decisions and resolutions, historical truths."

The east Mediterranean island, split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek inspired coup, was one of the first countries worldwide in 1975 to recognise the Armenian killings as genocide. It is commemorated on April 24.

The nature and scale of the killings remain highly contentious. Turkey accepts that many Armenians died in partisan fighting beginning in 1915, but denies that up to 1.5 million were killed and that this constituted an act of genocide, a term used by many Western historians and foreign parliaments.

In a statement, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said the Cypriot resolution was "null and void to us and not worthy of comment".

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyprus-armenia-turkey-idUSKBN0MT0YS20150402

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

I'm on neither's side because I don't know the facts.

Just a question: why did it take 60 years for any country to acknowledge the Armenian genocide? It happened in 1915 yet it wasn't till 1975 that a single country (Cyprus) recognised it? 

[brizoda 4,177]

It Iran has this law, then it must be respected

[Guest]

The genocide of Armenians and Pontian Greeks by the Turks is a FACT, the same way the Jewish holocaust by the Nazis is also a fact. So, yes, the Cypriot gvmnt did the right thing, people should not  "exploit" democracy and be ignorant and doubt that kind of crimes. RESPECT to all those people who have suffered! Respect their memories!

[TiphEret 1,320]

On 3/4/2016 at 8:31 AM, Lord Temptation said:

I'm on neither's side because I don't know the facts.

Just a question: why did it take 60 years for any country to acknowledge the Armenian genocide? It happened in 1915 yet it wasn't till 1975 that a single country (Cyprus) recognised it? 

I guess because when you acknowledge a genocide the victims can ask for prosecution and reparation. For sure Turkey will not admit it but if enough countries do, then they can be under pressure.