MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The South Ossetian parliament is considering the issue of a vote on recognizing Armenian genocide, citing the Armenian diaspora's appeal, the parliament's press release said Wednesday, citing one of the lawmakers.
"The members of the Armenian diaspora are full members of the South Ossetian society, many of whom fought for the freedom and independence of our Republic, went through the harsh times of war with us, and some of them are the descendants of the Armenians who ran away from the genocide," lawmaker Petr Gassiev was quoted as saying in the press release.
The news comes after on June 2 the German parliament passed a resolution almost unanimously recognizing the 1915 massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as a genocide. The move was met with widespread condemnation by Turkish officials.
Up to 1.2 million Armenians were slaughtered or starved to death by the Ottomans during and after World War I, according to various estimates. The empire’s policy of ethnic violence has been recognized by many European countries and Russia as genocide. Ankara maintains that Turkish nationals were also victimized.
