Israel: Massacre of Armenians was genocide

TT

Published 17.15

 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar is the one who has submitted the proposal to recognize the mass killings of Armenians as genocide. Archive photo. Photo: Darko Vojinovic/AP/TT

The Israeli government decided unanimously on Sunday to approve a proposal to recognize the mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

The step, which must also be approved by parliament, reflects the increasingly deteriorating relations between Israel and Turkey.

The mass killings are still the subject of institutionalized "denial and minimization," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said in a comment.

- A manipulative rewriting of history, primarily by the Turkish government, he said, adding that it is "never too late to do the right thing."

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million people were murdered in massacres in the Ottoman Empire beginning during World War I. The majority were Armenians, but other Christian minorities were also among the victims.