YEREVAN (Yerkir)–Speaking at the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday–Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) NA faction leader Levon Mkrtchian condemned British Ambassador to Armenia Thorda Abbott-Watt’s statemen’s on the Armenian Genocide.
"A foreign ambassador is obliged to honor the principles and the history of the people of the country to which they are assigned. . . We have to question the effectiveness of the ambassador’s future activity in Armenia," said Mkrtchian–and asked: "Is the ambassador aware of her country’s policies in the Middle East in the period between 1880’s and 1918? If so–what could prompt her to make such statemen’s?"
He suggested that if the ambassador is ignorant of the policy–she should begin to review British diplomatic literature on the issue that sharply differs from her view.
Abbott-Watt was quoted by Armenian media as saying that "I do not think that recognizing the events [1915 mass killings of Armenia’s in Ottoman Empire] as genocide would be much of use." In later commen’s–she had said that the evidence "was not sufficiently unequivocal that what took place could be categorized as genocide under the 1948 United Nations Convention on genocide."
"We are going to pose these questions to Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well–and ask that the issue at hand–the ambassador’s announcement–as well as her behavior be addressed with great seriousness," said the ARF leader.