Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government views the terrible events which saw the deaths of a large number of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire as a tragedy. We have previously expressed deepest sympathy for the enormous suffering of the Armenian people during this period and I do so again here this evening. The Government has not taken a stance on whether those terrible events should be described as a genocide because we believe we are not in a position to adjudicate on this matter. To reach a conclusion that any events amount to genocide involves the consideration and determination of a number of complex legal issues, and an assessment of the actions and intentions of many parties. Ireland is not in a position to do this with regard to these events.

As I said in one of my previous answers, Ireland follows the practice of recognising genocide only where this has been established by a judgment of an appropriate international court, or where there is international consensus on the matter. There is no such consensus on this issue. I am aware of the positions of other countries on the matter, including the recent statement released by the United States. However, neither the EU nor the UN has adopted a position on this question and there is no international consensus on whether these events amount to genocide. I wish to be clear that our position on the description of these events does not diminish our recognition of the terrible and shocking nature of what occurred to the Armenian people between 1915 and 1917. We continue to carefully monitor developments on this issue and will keep our position under regular review.

See this speech in context