“The Republic of Slovenia fully respects Armenia’s efforts to achieve genocide recognition, because massacres, death marches, and unbearable living conditions have fatally marked Armenians’ identity and historical and cultural heritage,” the spokesperson said, adding that “Slovenia deeply regrets the tragic events of 100 years ago.”
Moreover, Turkey and Armenia should join forces to address the mass killings of Armenians in 1915, that would help to prevent the repeat of such atrocities in the future, a spokesperson for the Slovenian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik Wednesday.
“Slovenia believes that the issue of mass killings of Armenians should be addressed, above all, by Armenia and Turkey,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson reiterated the words of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that keeping the memory of the victims alive and establishing cooperation between Armenia and Turkey in identifying facts could contribute to prevention of similar atrocities.
Last week, the German parliament adopted a bill recognizing the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman authorities as genocide. The Turkish Foreign Ministry called the move shameful.
The spokesperson added that Slovenia devotes particular attention to genocide prevention, “because numerous crisis areas where people experience mass violence remind us repeatedly that continued efforts are necessary to prevent crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.”
Turkey repeatedly dismissed any allegations of Armenian genocide, claiming that 1.2 million Armenian victims of Ottoman troops in 1915 were unintentional war casualties.
