Türkiye rejects Chilean resolution on 1915 events

ANKARA

Türkiye's Foreign Ministry has dismissed a resolution adopted by the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, the lower house of the country's bicameral congress, which recognized the 1915 events concerning Armenians as a "genocide" as null and void.

“Parliaments have no authority to interpret or pass judgment on history,” the ministry said in a statement issued on April 25.

It further asserted that the resolution adopted the day before contradicts the 1948 U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which stipulates that such crimes can only be determined by a competent court.

Reiterating Türkiye's stance on the events, the ministry called for a respectful and scholarly examination of history, free from political agendas.

Türkiye maintains that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia occurred when some individuals sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. The subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.