Lawmakers in Portugal on Friday voted overwhelmingly to recognize the Armenian Genocide, saying in a resolution passed at the Assembly of the Republic that “the systematic extermination by the Ottoman authorities directed at the Armenian minority in its territory is considered by the international community of historians as the first genocide of the twentieth century.”
The resolution, backed by all political forces represented in the parliament, also serves as a remembrance of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
“This remembrance should serve as a lesson for our time, because, given the current level of nationalism, xenophobia and intolerance worldwide, it is essential to remember the tragedies of the past. It is also through the culture of memory that the Assembly is committed to upholding human rights and emphasize the importance of strengthening dialogue among peoples, religions, cultures and civilizations,“ the resolution said.
The text of the resolution also includes a historic reference to the events of the day, saying that it was on April 24 that “the outbreak of massacres against the Armenian population is marked annually, since it was at on this day in 1915 that the Ottoman authorities arrested and executed 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople under orders of the government of the ‘Young Turks’.”
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The resolution also points out that “in the years during and after World War I it is estimated that between 800,000 and 1.5 million people were killed as a result of the genocide.”