The UK does not officially recognize the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War 1 as a genocide. While acknowledging the immense suffering, the UK believes it is not for modern governments to make judgments on historical events and that the issue is one for Turkey and Armenia to resolve. The UK has close ties with Turkey as a trade partner and NATO ally, and believes its position supports reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey and regional stability. However, the UK condemns the atrocities and supports projects to promote normalization between the countries.

1. The Armenian Genocide
Why UK doesn’t recognize the Armenian
Genocide?

2. What is the Armenian Genocide?
The extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire and the surrounding regions during 1915-
1923 is called the Armenian Genocide.
Those massacres were masterminded and
perpetrated by the government of Young Turks
and were later finalized by the Kemalist
government.
The First World War gave the Young Turks the
opportunity to settle accounts with Armenians
living in the Ottoman Empire, thus implementing
the decision of the secret meeting of 1911 in
Thessaloniki. The plan was to tukify the Muslims
and to exterminate the Armenians living in the
Ottoman Empire. Talaat Pasha (Interior Minister),
Enver Pasha (Minister of Military Affairs), Djemal
Pasha (commander of the Palestinian Front),
Behaeddin Shakir Bey (Young Turk Central
Committee member) and others were among the
orchestrators of the project.

3. What is the Armenian Genocide?
Intending to annihilate Armenians, they
wanted to eliminate the Armenian
Question. Armenia and Armenians were an
obstacle on the way of the project of the
Yong Turks. Their dream of “Great Turan”
was to stretch from the Bosporus to Altai.
During the First World War the Young Turks
perpetrated massacres against Assyrians,
Greeks and Arabs living in the Ottoman
Empire.
In February 1915 the military minister
Envier Pasha ordered to eliminate the
Armenian soldiers serving in the Army. On
April 24 and the following days 800
Armenians were arrested in Constantinople
and exiled to the depths of Anatolia.

4. What is the Armenian Genocide ?
Armenian writers, journalists, doctors,
scientists, clergymen, intellectuals
including Armenian members of the
parliament were among them. A part
of them died on the way of the exile,
while others died after reaching there.
The first international response to the
violence resulted in a joint statement
by France, Russia and the Great Britain
in May 1915, where the Turkish
atrocities against the Armenians were
defined as “a crime against humanity
and civilization”. According to them,
Turkish government was responsible
for the implementation of the crime.

5. Why was the Armenian Genocide
perpetrated?
When WWI erupted; the government of the
Young Turks adopted the policy of Pan-
Turkism, hoping to save the remains of the
weakened Ottoman Empire. The plan was to
create an enormous Ottoman Empire that
would spread to China, include all the
Turkish speaking nations of the Caucasus
and Middle Asia, intending also to turkify all
the ethnic minorities of the empire. The
Armenian population became the main
obstacle standing in the way of the
realization of this policy. Besides, the
constitution restored after the Revolution of
1908 promised equal rights to all citizens of
the Ottoman Empire. Armenians
enthusiastically embraced this opportunity;
however the change of status of previously
deprived Armenians increased the hostility
of the Turks towards Christians.

6. Why was the Armenian Genocide
perpetrated?
This hostility was formed long ago, as
even in the conditions of deprivation
Armenians of the Ottoman empire
provided unprecedented social, cultural
and economic development. The
genocide was a means to suppress this
ascent, as well as to seize the Armenian
wealth created during decades.
The Young Turks used WWI as a suitable
opportunity for the implementation of
the Armenian genocide, although it was
planned in 1911-1912.
There were an estimated two million
Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire
before the First World War.
Approximately one and a half million
Armenians were killed from 1915-1923.
The remaining part was either Islamized
or exiled.

7. British Government Rejects Genocide
Recognition
London (PA News) A bid to get the
British Government to recognize as
"genocide" the deportation and
massacre and slaughter of thousands
of Armenians by the Ottoman
government of Turkey in 1915, was
rejected by ministers in the Lords.
Foreign Office spokesman, Baroness
Ramsay of Cart vale, said the British
Government had condemned the
massacres at the time.
She added, "the present British
Government, like its predecessors, in
no way dissents from that view, nor
do we seek to deny what happened or
try to play down the extent of the
tragedy. The Government announced.

8. British Government Rejects Genocide
Recognition
"But in the absence of unequivocal
evidence that the Ottoman administration
took a specific decision to eliminate the
Armenians under their control at that time,
British governments have not recognized
those events as indications of genocide.
"Nor do we believe it is the business of
governments of today to review events of
over 80 years ago, with a view to
pronouncing on them. The events of 1915-
16 remain a painful issue in relation to two
states with which we enjoy excellent
relations.
"For our part, it is better to look forward
rather than back. We hope Turkey and
Armenia will be able to overcome their
legacy of bitterness. The right approach is to
urge the peoples of the region to look to
the future."

9. What is the Great Britain's position regarding
Armenian Genocide in 1915?
The representatives of Great Britain told
that they recognize and deeply regret the
terrible suffering inflicted on the
Armenian people in 1915. Reading the
scholarship, visiting the Tsitsernakaberd
Museum, seeing the photos and the
written testimony, is enormously moving.
They believe it is vitally important to
honor the memory of the victims; and
they must make sure they draw the
necessary lessons from history. But while
they must never forget the past, they
believe that their priority today should be
to promote reconciliation between the
peoples and Governments of Armenia and
Turkey and to find a way for Armenia and
Turkey, as the countries which have
inherited this tragic joint history, to
address that history together. They want
to encourage and support any process
which will help both countries to do that.

10. What is the Great Britain's position
regarding Armenian Genocide in 1915?
The UK position is that we do not
recognize the massacres as “genocide” –
this issue is one for Turkey and Armenia
to resolve between themselves.
Progress towards normalization of
bilateral relations between Turkey and
Armenia was halted in April 2010 as a
result of Turkey linking ratification of the
relevant protocols with progress on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Normalizations could bring long term
benefits for the peace and stability of
the whole region. The UK has supported
a number of projects designed to
promote normalization of Turkey-
Armenia relations. These have included
a Turkish film festival in Yerevan, a
touring theatre production about the
Turkish/Armenian relationship and
bringing together activists in both
countries to discuss EU integration.

11. Is it possible to say that Turkey has a role in UK's
status of not recognizing Armenian Genocide?
They have a strong relationship with
Turkey, both as a trade and
investment partner, and as a
strategic ally in NATO. They strongly
support the accession of Turkey to
the EU, believing that a modern,
democratic Turkey bound to Europe
with strong institutional, cultural and
economic ties is in their best
interests and in the best interests of
the wider region. But their position
on this issue remains based on the
view that there has to be a process
of reconciliation led by Armenia and
Turkey themselves.

12. Is it possible to say that Turkey has a role in UK's
status of not recognizing Armenian Genocide?
As we have discovered in Europe,
after the terrible destruction and
barbarity of war – it is much
easier to become reconciled, to
build trust, to face up to history,
when you are building up a web
of relationships economically,
culturally, and politically. This
was, in fact, the founding
principle of the EU – after the
horrors of war, to bring, in the
first place, countries’ economies
together, to create institutions
where common interests could be
explored and deepened, to give a
future focus to the process of
reconciliation.

13. Is it possible to say that Turkey has a role in
UK's status of not recognizing Armenian
Genocide?
The UK’s excellent relationship
with Turkey is long-standing
and based on a wide range of
bilateral and multilateral issues.
Turkey is a key strategic ally in
the region on a number of
international issues, such as
Syria, Cyprus and the EU. But
the UK government position on
this issue is based on their
assessment of what is best for
the stability and security of the
entire region, including both
Armenia and Turkey.

14. Thank you for attention
We Remember and Demand