Latvia has officially recognized and condemned the Armenian Genocide; 58 of the 100 members of the Saeima voted in favor. This was written in a Facebook post by Armenia’s Ambassador to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Tigran Mkrtchyan, who has completed his diplomatic mission in the Baltic countries.
“What was difficult to imagine years ago has become a reality today. This is the result of years of painstaking work, in which the application of nearly the entire arsenal of diplomacy has been essential—strong political contacts, parliamentary diplomacy, cultural diplomacy (which has perhaps been the most visible, and also extremely important), community involvement and the involvement of the Armenian Apostolic Church (which has been the most enduring and consistent). The totality of all this, coupled with changes in certain emphases in our work in recent years, led to this result,” wrote the ambassador.
He recalled that as early as April 24, 2020, two forces in the Latvian parliament, which are also members of the ruling coalition—the “New Conservative” and “Development/For!” parties—had already made statements recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide. “It was on the initiative of these forces, as well as the majority of the representatives of the ‘Harmony’ party, that the process of recognizing the Armenian Genocide began in February 2021, as a result of which a resolution-declaration was presented on April 23. On April 29, the preliminary version of the resolution was postponed for a week due to objections. A revised version of the resolution was proposed by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, around which a vigorous discussion also unfolded, and which has also carried out parallel work in this direction over the last two months,” detailed Tigran Mkrtchyan, expressing special gratitude to those Latvian parliamentarians who contributed to this matter.
“I bow before all the political forces and deputies of the Latvian parliament who voted in favor of resolving this issue, of utmost importance to the Armenian people, in Latvia,” wrote the diplomat.
