Latvia Recognizes Armenian Genocide

Senior officials in Armenia visit attend a memorial in Yerevan on April 24, marking the country's Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

Latvia has recognized the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide, drawing an angry response from Turkey.

The Baltic nation’s parliament passed a resolution on May 6 condemning and recognizing the tragedy with 58 of 100 lawmakers voting for the measure.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry slammed the decision as a "null and void attempt to rewrite history for political motives."

National governments and parliaments in some 30 countries have formally recognized the Armenian Genocide.

SEE ALSO: Biden Recognizes WWI-Era Killings Of Armenians As Genocide

U.S. President Joe Biden did so in a statement released on April 24 -- Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

During and immediately after World War I, Armenians and many historians say as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed, in what Armenians call "The Great Crime." Armenians have documented mass murder, banditry, raping of women, pillaging of property, and other atrocities.

SEE ALSO: 'Terrible Vengeance': The History Of Turkish Atrocities Against Armenians And Why Biden Has Called Them Genocide


As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey objects to the use of the word genocide and says that hundreds of thousands of Muslims also died in Anatolia at the time due to combat, starvation, cold, and disease.