Parliament of Navarre Recognizes Armenian Genocide

PAMPLONA, Spain—The parliament of Spain’s autonomous community of Navarre adopted a measure on Monday recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The measure came after a series of visits by members of the Navarre parliament to Armenia and Artsakh. Navarre lies in the north of Spain and has a sizable population of Basque speakers.

The declaration, adopted by the unicameral Parliament on June 23, reads that “in accordance with the resolution of the European Parliament of June 1987, reaffirmed by subsequent resolutions (February 28, 2002 and April 1, 2004), the events suffered by the Armenian people are an authentic genocide.”

“As we are nearing the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, such declarations clearly show European solidarity with Armenian people and their suffering” commented European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA) Director Eduardo Lorenzo Ochoa. “EuFoA is proud that thanks to its extensive network, more and more key European stakeholders are aware of the importance of this issue,” he added.

The declaration denounces the policy of denial developed by the Turkish regime and calls on Turkey “to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia in the spirit of good neighborhood, and to resolve their border dispute peacefully.” In addition, the text underlines that given Turkey’s status as candidate for EU membership, those two issues (the recognition of the Genocide and the normalization of diplomatic relations) should be urgently addressed.

Navarre is a Spanish autonomous region in the north, bordering France, roughly the size of Cyprus, and populated by around 650,000 inhabitants. It is the fourth region in Spain that has recognized the Armenian Genocide, after the Basque Country, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.