site.btaApril 24: Armenian Victims Remembrance Day

Thursday marks 110 years since the beginning of one of the darkest episodes in the crumbling Ottoman Empire - events recognized as genocide against the Armenians by around 30 countries, despite criticism from Turkiye, which continues to reject the term.

This date commemorates the anniversary of the mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917, which, according to Armenia, led to the deaths of over 1.5 million people. 

The Turkish government acknowledges the mass deaths of Armenians but opposes the use of the term "genocide," and considers the death toll exaggerated. According to Ankara, between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians, along with a similar number of Turks, died in a civil war and famine.

On April 24, 1915, thousands of Armenians suspected of engaged in hostile actions against the Ottoman central government were arrested in Istanbul. Most were later executed or deported.

The Armenian Apostolic Church canonized the 1.5 million victims who were killed.

Around thirty countries, including France, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, and Canada - as well as the European Parliament and numerous international organizations, officially recognize those events as genocide.

On this same date ten years ago, the Bulgarian Parliament passed a resolution recognizing the mass extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the period 1915–1922, and declared April 24 a Day of Remembrance for the victims. According to the National Assembly, the extermination of Armenians has been substantiated by conclusive historical evidence and authentic documents.

"According to the Bulgarian people's humane traditions and the obligations assumed under the ratification of the UN instruments, Bulgaria draws a distinction between the historical legacy of the Ottoman Empire and the legacy of the Republic of Turkiye and welcomes a dialogue between Turkiye and Armenia on a conclusive commitment to the historic truth," the resolution reads.

Following is BTA's story on the adoption of the declaration in 2015:

Parliament Passes Resolution on Armenians' Mass Extermination in Ottoman Empire in 1915-1922 Period

Sofia, April 24 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Parliament Friday passed a resolution recognizing the mass extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the 1915-1922 period. The vote was 157 in favour and 36 against.

"The extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1922 is identified by undeniable historic facts and authentic documents," the resolution points out. "According to the Bulgarian people's humane traditions and the obligations assumed under the ratification of the UN instruments, Bulgaria draws a distinction between the historical legacy of the Ottoman Empire and the legacy of the Republic of Turkey and welcomes a dialogue between Turkey and Armenia on a conclusive commitment to the historic truth," the resolution reads.

The draft resolution on recognition of the Armenian genocide was moved by the Ataka Parliamentary Group and was rephrased on motions by Tsveta Karayancheva MP of GERB and Krassimira Kovachka MP of the Bulgarian Democratic Centre. Karayancheva moved that the word 'genocide' be replaced by the expression 'mass extermination'. On Kovachka's motion, two passages were dropped from the reasoning to the draft: "The act entirely satisfies the essential elements of the United Nations enacting instruments: the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) and the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity (1968)" and "sharing the position of the European Parliament in support of this dialogue". Ataka objected to these revisions.

The resolution declared April 24 a Victims Remembrance Day.

After the vote, Parliament observed a minute of silence in commemoration of the Armenian victims. The attending MPs of the Movement of Rights and Freedoms (MRF) walked out of the debating chamber.

Representatives of the Turkish Embassy in Sofia watched the debate from the visitors' gallery.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said that he hopes that the political forces will recognize the Armenians' mass extermination by consensus. He made this statement to reporters in Parliament, emerging from consultations with the GERB Parliamentary Group and Reformist Bloc Co-floor Leader Radan Kanev at the office of National Assembly Chair Tsetska Tsacheva.

Borissov specified that GERB had proposed a recognition of the Armenians' mass extermination. "I said it very clearly: this is the Bulgarian word or the Bulgarian words, or the Bulgarian idiom for 'genocide," the PM pointed out.

He confirmed the clear distinction between the Ottoman Empire and present-day Turkey. 

Yerevan defines as 'genocide' the killing of a little over 1.5 million Armenians by Turkish troops during systematic extermination operations in the 1915-1923 period. Ankara denies this. According to the official position of the Turkish authorities, killing people was not deliberately sought. Turkey admits to the death of not more than 500,000 people, who fell victim to sporadic armed groups and starvation. 

The Armenian genocide has been recognized by a number of countries, including Russia, France, Italy, Germany and Uruguay. It was recently recognized by Pope Francis and the European Parliament. 

Comments

Dessislav Choukolov MP of Ataka told journalists in Parliament commented that the dropping of the reference to UN conventions and the mention of genocide from the resolution denies the members of the Armenian community the right to assert their interests through the courts. "We have no right to give way to pressure," he said. "Representatives of the Turkish Embassy, admitted to the building on MRF passes, were present in the National Assembly visitors' gallery today. Bulgaria is not a sovereign State. Bulgaria acts under pressure from the Turkish side and cannot take sovereign decisions like the one that Ataka moved," the MP commented. "Let's hope that some day the Bulgarian National Assembly will adopt a resolution recognizing that we Bulgarians were subjected to genocide during the five-century Turkish yoke," he added.

Valeri Simeonov MP of the Patriotic Front said that the Bulgarian people empathizes with the Armenians' tragedy and provided refuge and helped the rescue of over 70,000 Armenians fleeing annihilation in the Ottoman Empire. In his opinion, the passage of a resolution on the Armenian genocide is of enormous importance for Bulgaria.

Valeri Zhablyanov MP of BSP-Left Bulgaria described "the extermination of a huge part of the Armenian people" as "a barbarous act of a crumbling empire like the Ottoman one". He argued that recognizing the genocide is a condition for Bulgaria's entry into the 21st century.

"We must be aware of where we are on the map," Reformist Bloc Co-floor Leader Radan Kanev said. In his words, "silence cannot heal the effects of violence". "Admitting the truth may heal wounds that are even more severe than our own historical wounds," he observed.

MRF leader Lyutvi Mestan said that his parliamentary group will vote against the draft resolution not because it denies the need of a common evaluation of these events but because "it is of the opinion that progress towards such an evaluation may be impeded by a wrong intervention by the Bulgarian Parliament". According to Mestan, within the meaning of the Constitution, National Assembly resolutions have the force of a law and are not a mere expression of a political position. "Bulgaria's Parliament is the only one that contemplates passing a resolution, whereas most other national parliaments came up with declarations," he argued. "You can't legislate in respect of the past," he pointed out, adding that "historical events can be given a political assessment but cannot be turned into a legal standard".

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"Today was a great day for the historic truth about what happened 100 years ago," Armenian Bulgarian composer Haygashod Agasyan told journalists in Parliament. "All my compatriots who were present here are satisfied, even though the word 'genocide' was replaced by 'mass extermination'. I would like to express gratitude for what Bulgaria did for our forefathers and received nearly 50,000 Armenians at that time," Agasyan said. Commenting on the behaviour of the MRF MPs, who walked out of the debating chamber while the rest of the lawmakers observed a minute of silence for the Armenian victims in the Ottoman Empire, Agasyan asked: "Are they Bulgarian MP, or are they MPs of a country neighbouring on us, and whose cause do they champion?" PK/LG