Germany has joined an ever-growing list of nations to officially recognise the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians by Turkey during World War 1, but New Zealand continues to stay silent, according to Newshub.
No New Zealand government has ever officially recognized the Armenian Genocide over fears Turkey would ban Kiwis from visiting the Gallipoli battlefields.
Auckland based genocide expert Maria Amoudian finds that perplexing.
“New Zealand is a really interesting case for political scientists like me, it’s a country that has always stood out as being ethically at the forefront, morally at the forefront, always for an underdog, and caring about issues like human rights,” she says.
“So it is a little bit baffling that on this one issue that it tends to shy away from even looking at it.”
The Government told Newshub that it considers historic issues between Armenia and Turkey are best left to those countries to work through.
The Greens are the only New Zealand political party that does recognize the Armenian genocide, and now they’re in a coalition opposition with Labor, political will on the issue here could be about to change.
