On April 20, the Sicilian Parliament unanimously recognized the Armenian Genocide, becoming the 105^th council to recognize the Armenian Genocide at the level of local self-government bodies in Italy, as reported the press service of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Hayern Aysor.

In the adopted resolution, the Sicilian Parliament expresses its support to and solidarity with the struggle of the Armenian people for acknowledgement of the historical facts and protection of their inviolable rights.

The resolution calls on the state government of Sicily and the national government of Italy to jointly support the measures for recognition of the Armenian Genocide and disseminate the historical facts for the sake of peace, democracy and protection of the right of nations to self-determination.

The draft of the resolution was submitted by Members of Parliament Cordaro Salvatore, D’Asero Antonino, Papale Alfio and Grasso Bernadette Felice.

An agreement on the resolution was reached during the meeting that Armenia’s Ambassador to Italy Sargis Ghazaryan had with Chairperson of the State Council of Sicily Giovanni Ardizzone on the sidelines of his visit to Italy in late November 2015.

Reference: Established in 1097, the Sicilian Parliament is one of the world’s oldest parliaments and has the widest scope of powers compared to the other parliaments in the autonomous regions of Italy.

The Parliament of Italy recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2000, and the Sicilian Parliament is the 105^th council to recognize the Armenian Genocide at the level of local self-government bodies in Italy.