ArmInfo.RA Ambassador to Italy Victoria Baghdasaryan welcomed the decision of the Italian Parliament to recognize the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
"We welcome the adoption by the Chamber of Deputies of Italy of the initiative to recognize the Armenian Genocide, which was adopted by 382 votes in favor, 43 more members abstained, with 0 votes against. We express our thanks to all parliamentary political forces that supported this initiative. Special thanks to the initiator of the decision, the deputy from the Lega party Paolo Formentini and 34 co-authors, as well as all who spoke in support of the initiative," the ambassador said in a statement published on the page of the Italian Embassy in Facebook.
Baghdasaryan stressed that with this step the Italian side reaffirmed its commitment to universal human values, contributing to the prevention of new genocides and crimes against humanity. "The Chamber of Deputies, paying tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, stressed that the events occurred more than a century ago in the Ottoman Empire were genocide against the Armenians, and called on the Italian government to officially recognize this crime and give it international resonance," the diplomat said.
To note, Turkey responded negatively to this initiative of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Official Ankara assured that this decision of the Italian Parliament has no power, distorts the historical reality and aims at sowing the seeds of hate.
It should be noted that the Italian Parliament first recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2000, in addition, some Italian provinces also adopted corresponding resolutions in various years.