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Lord Maginnis: â€œIt is inappropriate to dwell on events of a century ago while the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unresolvedâ€

31 March 2010 15:09 (UTC +04:00)

The debates were opened by pro-Armenian Baroness Caroline Cox, who said unrecognized genocide caused another act of genocide. She said she visited Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh for 69 times and thought that â€œit is high time to recognize Armenian genocideâ€. Cox criticized the UK government for non-recognition of so-called â€œgenocideâ€. She claimed that Azerbaijan attacked Armenians of Karabakh in 1991 repeating the 1915 events. Cox also claimed that Armenians were deported from Nakhchivan. Then she asked the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead would the government officials attend the genocide ceremony in Cardiff, Wales or not.

Lord Avebury, referred to the Blue Book about the so-called â€œgenocideâ€, supported Baroness Cox. Lord Hylton said that it wouldnâ€™t be correct to label 1915 events, where a number of Armenians were killed, as â€œgenocideâ€. â€œI conclude by suggesting that the current clamour for attaching the particular label "genocide" to the terrible events that took place is misplaced. It certainly annoys Turks and their Government, and encourages, if anything, the continuance of denial of what happened. It has already harmed the dÃ©tente that was beginning between Turkey and Armenia, and as has again been mentioned, it has caused threats by Turkey to deport a large number of Armenian workersâ€, said Lord Hylton.
Lord Marginnis of Drumglass was against the so-called genocide claims. He said the events happened a century ago. â€œI want to contribute because I feel that it is inappropriate to dwell on events of a century ago while the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unresolved. Currently nearly 1 million Azerbaijanis have refugee status after being denied the right to return to their homes. It is a humanitarian disaster carried out by the Armenians. I would have thought that that would be more relevant instead of self-indulgence about something that happened 100 years ago in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire. I would never suggest that there is a reason or an excuse for multiple deaths and killings on one side or the other, but from my reading, I believe that there was an organized Armenian-Russian attempt in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire, which provoked conflict, and in that conflict equal or comparable numbers of people were killed in pretty harsh circumstancesâ€, said Lord Marginnis and added: â€œIn the short time available to me, I suggest that the United Kingdom should remember that in 1922 Kemal Ataturk turned Turkey around. It became our ally. It has been our ally for almost 90 years. During the days of the Warsaw pact and the NATO stand-off, we required, and were grateful for, Turkish participation in guarding the freedom of Europe. For that reason, I believe that like the American congressional committee we should be very careful not to alienate further our Turkish friends. I draw attention to the fact that the American congressional committee voted by a majority of only one in favor of such a resolutionâ€.
Lord Kilclooney also focused attention on Karabakh events and said hundreds of Azeris were killed by Armenians. â€œHowever, as has been said, this is something from 100 years ago. To bring it all up now and clamour-to use the well chosen word of the noble Lord, Lord Hylton-to have it qualified as genocide is unhelpful to the situation between Turkey and Armenia. Of course, there is also the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh, where there have been more recent murders of hundreds of people by the Armenians, supported by other countries. Hundreds were killed and nearly a million Azeris had to flee, so Armenia does not have clean handsâ€.
Lord Wallace reminded that he was reading about the British Army retaking Delhi after the Indian mutiny, during which they massacred the entire Muslim population. â€œUndoubtedly, there were massacres of Armenians in World War I. There were also massacres of Greeks as the Turkish army, under Kemal Ataturk, managed to expel the Greeks from Smyrna. Had the Greeks won the battle of Smyrna, there would have been massacres of Turks instead. Sadly, that was the nature of the debateâ€, said Lord Wallace.
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead finalized the debates. â€œI confirm that the position of the Government is to continue to work for rapprochement and reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. The UK Government will not make any statements that have the potential to jeopardize this process. It is apparent that there is a strong political will, and indeed popular support, for improving relations. The Armenian president and the Turkish president have been focused and engaged in the process, which also allows for the creation of a sub-committee to examine historical issues, including the events of 1915-17â€, said Baroness Kinnock. "Genocide" is a precise term and its use is best assessed by a competent court. However, then as now, there is no court with the authority to make such an assessment. Therefore, it is inappropriate for the British Government to apply the term to events on which no legal judgment can be madeâ€. Baroness Kinnock said that the UK government wouldnâ€™t send its representative to the opening of memorial in Cardiff. â€œI was aware last year that noble Lords had raised the issue of a memorial. Sending a government representative might suggest recognition, so, despite our sympathies for the tragedy, we do not intend to send a representativeâ€.