Turkish MFA condemns Uruguay's decision on events of 1915

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has condemned the decision of the Uruguayan parliament to recognise the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire as “genocide” against the Armenian population.

“We reject and condemn the law adopted by the Uruguayan parliament and signed by the acting president recognising the events of 1915 as 'genocide'. This law is contrary to international law, especially the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and is invalid,” TASS reports citing the message on the ministry's website.

The ministry also noted that “legislative bodies and politicians do not have the authority to make decisions on controversial historical issues”.

“It is unacceptable for the parliament and government of Uruguay to try to achieve their internal political goals by distorting history,” the ministry said.

Türkiye denies accusations of the Armenian genocide in 1915, when, according to various sources, about 1.5 million people died.

The Turkish side says that it was a period of "fratricidal war" in which numerous Turks and Armenians died. The Turkish side previously stated that it had opened the archives of that period and called on scholars to study them to establish the historical truth.