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Welsh National Assembly should discuss Armenian Genocide - Matt With

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  • Welsh National Assembly should discuss Armenian Genocide - Matt With

    Welsh National Assembly should discuss Armenian Genocide - Matt Withers

    news.am
    April 29, 2012 | 01:43

    Armenian News-NEWS.am presents the concise version of the article of
    Matt Withers published on Wales Online.

    `As a rule the Assembly's Petitions Committee has a variety of issues
    to discus. Part of what it is dealing with is utter nonsense.

    Two gentlemen came on the steps of the Senedd this week to present
    their petition to the National Assembly, that is `to designate April
    24 in Wales as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day'.

    Only one member of the committee, its chairman, came to take the
    petition and hurried to inform them that such issues were the concern
    of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office rather than the National
    Assembly and Welsh Government.

    The petition was signed by 262 people, which is 5 times more than the
    number of Armenians living in Wales.

    It is clear that a genuine diplomatic incident could have occurred in
    the Assembly if it would have discussed what took place in Armenia in
    1915-1916 which, according to Turkey, is not genocide.

    In January the French parliament passed a law on criminalizing the
    denial of the Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Turks, and Turkey responded
    by suspending military, economic and political ties with France as
    soon as the bill was first adopted by the parliament.

    But if that is why Wales' Assembly avoids discussing the topic,
    Assembly members should at least be told about that.

    Moreover, the Assembly has always discussed topics which were outside
    its remit - in fact, it spends much of its time discussing UK
    Government Policy. Designating a day for marking a historical event is
    well within its powers.

    Should the Armenian Genocide be recognized? That's outside the scope
    of this column. But it shouldn't be outside the scope of the Assembly
    to at least discuss it?' the article reads.

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