Cyprus parliament marks 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

On Thursday, the Cyprus House of Representatives held a plenary session to commemorate the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. House Speaker Annita Demetriou noted that the events of 1915, beginning with the mass arrest and execution of Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople on April 24, constituted a systematic campaign of extermination. Demetriou reaffirmed the position of the Republic of Cyprus, highlighting that it was the first European country to recognize the genocide in 1975. She further detailed that Cyprus declared April 24 as a National Day of Remembrance in 1990 and criminalized the denial of the genocide in 2015. During the session, the Speaker criticized the Turkish government for its continued denial of the events and its regional foreign policies. Vartkes Mahdesian, the representative of the Armenian community in Cyprus, also addressed the assembly to highlight international geopolitical inconsistencies. The session concluded with a moment of silence in honor of the victims.