The Israeli government unanimously approved Sunday the recognition of the Armenian genocide, dealing a pointed blow to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a moment of acute tension between the two countries.
The Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial and Museum-Institute in Yerevan © Mena Today
The Israeli government unanimously approved Sunday the recognition of the Armenian genocide, dealing a pointed blow to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a moment of acute tension between the two countries.
"It is never too late to do what is right. This is both a moral and historical duty," declared Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, whose proposal was adopted by the full cabinet. The decision still requires parliamentary approval.
Previous Israeli governments had deliberately avoided recognising the Armenian genocide, between 600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians killed under the Ottoman Empire during World War One, largely to preserve ties with Turkey, once one of Israel's closest regional partners.
Those ties are now in ruins, and with them, any reason for restraint.
The Erdogan Factor
The timing is no coincidence. Erdogan has spent years positioning himself as Israel's most vociferous critic, comparing Israeli leaders to Nazi officials, suspending the bulk of trade relations and throwing Turkey's diplomatic weight behind Hamas.
Netanyahu has consistently fired back, labelling Erdogan "an antisemitic dictator who commits genocide against the Kurds."
The man who lectures Israel on genocide while denying one of history's most documented massacres — and while waging a decades-long military campaign against the Kurdish people — is in no moral position to occupy the high ground on anything.
Sunday's decision reminds the world of that contradiction. Loudly, clearly and unanimously.
Saudi Arabia has launched an air accident probe following last week's cockpit stabbing on a flydubai jet, as experts examine any fallout for aviation safety alongside a separate UAE-led criminal investigation, three people close to the matter said.
A reported CIA warning that Israel faces civil war or state collapse rests on anonymous briefings, an unpublished paper, and a unit whose job is to invent uncomfortable scenarios. That is a thin basis for a claim this large.
The mayor of Izmir, Turkey's third-largest city and a bastion of its secular opposition, joined President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP) on Wednesday, giving it the mayoralty of a city it has never won at the ballot box.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
