Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 May 2021
336. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the Armenian genocide which occurred 106 years ago; if Ireland can formally recognise the massacre of up to one and a half million Armenians as an act of genocide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23435/21]
View answer345. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government is prepared to follow the example of the President of the United States of America and recognise the genocide perpetrated upon Armenia by the Ottoman Turkish Government during World War 1; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23134/21]
View answer346. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has considered recognising the murder of up to one and a half million Armenians from 1915-1917 as genocide as was recently done by the President of the United States of America; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23163/21]
View answer347. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his plans to officially recognise the Armenian genocide during the First World War; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23203/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 336, 345, 346 and 347 together.
The Government views the terrible events of 1915 which saw the deaths of a very large number of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire as a tragedy and has expressed sympathy for the enormous suffering of the Armenian people during the period in question.
There is no international consensus on whether these events amount to genocide and neither the EU nor the UN have adopted a position on this question in relation to the terrible events of 1915.
The Government has not taken a position on whether those terrible events should be described as a genocide as we believe we are not in a position to adjudicate on this matter which involves the consideration and determination of a number of legal issues and an assessment of the actions and intentions of many parties during that time.
