Cyprus parliament commemorates the 111th anniversary of the Armenian genocide

The Parliament of Cyprus held a special plenary session to mark the 111th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, which began on April 24, 1915, with the arrest and execution of 250 Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople. House President Annita Dimitriou highlighted that Cyprus was the first European nation to officially recognize the genocide in 1975. She noted that the parliament further declared April 24 as a national day of memory in 1990 and criminalized the denial of the genocide in 2015. Vartkes Mahdessian, the representative of the Armenian community in the House, criticized Turkey's ongoing refusal to acknowledge these historical events. He pointed to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code as a tool used by Turkey to suppress discourse on the genocide. Speakers linked the historical tragedy to contemporary geopolitical issues, accusing Turkey of expansionist policies affecting Cyprus, Syria, Iraq, and Greece. The session concluded with a reaffirmation of the solidarity between the Cypriot and Armenian people.