Armenian Diaspora Reprimands Israeli President for Genocide Non-Recognition

Representatives of the Armenian diaspora have visited Israel's President Reuven Rivlin, expressing disappointment over the fact that the country's authorities refuse to recognise the 1915 genocide of Armenians.

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) – Representatives of the Armenian diaspora have visited Israel's President Reuven Rivlin at his Jerusalem residence, expressing disappointment over the fact that the country's authorities refer to the 1915 genocide of Armenians as "mass killing."

Rivlin's press service issued a statement after the Sunday visit, saying that Israeli authorities are not eager to brand any particular country as responsible for the "Armenian tragedy," but are not ignoring the facts.

According to the statement, Israel's president recognizes the importance of the meeting with representatives of the Armenian diaspora, who critiqued Rivlin for not calling the 1915 massacre, ordered by the Ottoman government during and after World War I, a genocide.

Thousands of Armenians around the world commemorated the 100th anniversary of the 1915 genocide on Friday. In Jerusalem, Armenians demonstrated in front of the Turkish consulate. Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, refuses to name the massacre a genocide, claiming that Turkish nationals were also among the victims.

The April 24 commemoration date marks the day when the 1915 mass killings started. The atrocities claimed the lives of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, according to official Yerevan data.

The Armenian genocide has been recognized by 25 countries, including Russia, Germany and France.