Four Turkish political parties condemn Armenian genocide resolution

Duvar English

Four political parties in the Turkish parliament have issued a joint statement condemning and rejecting the U.S. Senate recognition of the Armenian genocide.

"As the Turkish Grand National Assembly, we strongly condemn and reject the U.S. Senate-approved decision on the so-called Armenian genocide which distorts historical facts and flouts the fundamental rules of international law," said a joint declaration on Dec. 13.

"The decision, which lacks any legal value … is part of a dirty game," it said.

The joint statement was signed by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the İYİ (Good) Party.

Only the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) dissented. “We are not accepting the decision that the AKP, MHP, CHP, İYİ Party have taken in the parliament regarding the Genocide Resolution adopted by the U.S. Senate, and we giving our 'No' vote. We urge [the authorities] to face genocide and all sufferings that occurred on these lands,” said a statement released on the HDP's Twitter account.

Also, the HDP issued an official statement regarding the issue on its website. The party said that it did not join the condemnation because the way to confront this issue "is not through such resolutions taken by various parliaments worldwide."

"Neither the resolution adopted by the U.S. Congress nor the declaration of Turkey's parliament serves to find the truth or to heal the wounds," it said.

"We believe that free discussion and sharing our pain is vital for social peace. This parliament can and should pioneer this. We emphasize once again that we are ready to make any contribution in this regard and to take the responsibility," the statement signed by the HDP Parliamentary Group Deputies Fatma Kurtulan and Saruhan Oluç said.

The U.S. Senate on Dec. 12 unanimously passed a resolution that recognizes as a genocide the mass killings of Armenians a century ago.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart. They say the mass killings amounted to “genocide.”

Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide.