Armenia files complaint with Israel over comments on Genocide - The Associated Press, Ha'aretz - English Edition, 17 Febuary 2002
YEREVAN, Armenia - Armenia's Foreign Ministry has issued a note of protest to Israel over an Israeli envoy's remarks that the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century cannot be considered a genocide.
"Armenia considers this effort to deny the fact of the Armenian genocide unacceptable, regardless of what reason prompted it," the note said, the Foreign Ministry's press office announced Friday.
Israeli ambassador to Georgia and Armenia Rivka Kohen told a news conference in Yerevan last week that what happened to the Armenians was a "tragedy" while the Holocaust could be considered a "genocide," and said it was unacceptable to draw a parallel between the two.
| "what happened to the Armenians was a "tragedy" while the Holocaust could be considered a "genocide," and said it was unacceptable to draw a parallel between the two." |
| Israeli ambassador to Georgia and Armenia Rivka Kohen |
The Foreign Ministry note says Armenia never tried to compare the two, since it considers any such crime against humanity "exceptional in its historic, legal and moral consequences."
Armenia accuses Turkey of the genocide of up to 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1919, when Armenia was under the Ottoman Empire. Turkey rejects the claim and says Armenians were killed in civil unrest during the collapse of the empire. The disagreement prevents the two neighbours from establishing formal diplomatic relations.
Influential Armenian diaspora communities have pushed for the United States and other nations to declare the event a genocide, while Muslim Turkey - a NATO member and key U.S. military ally in the region - has strongly protested such efforts.