Sub-national recognition: Italy and the Armenian Genocide
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David Gozali | 2 September 2026
The Armenian Genocide is one of the most horrendous events in the 20th century, alongside the two World Wars and the Holocaust. Around 1.5 million Armenians perished during this atrocity, and hundreds of thousands were displaced and became stateless refugees. Numerous countries around the globe have recognised the Armenian Genocide, including the US, France, Argentina, Poland, Germany, and many more. However, among the many countries that recognised the Genocide, Italy is a unique case. Not only has the national government acknowledged the genocide, but also a substantial number of municipalities and regions have done so. More than 100 sub-national governments (108 municipalities, five regions, and five provinces) in Italy officially recognise the Armenian Genocide, making it the country with one of the most sub-national recognitions of the Armenian Genocide in the world. In other countries, local and regional governments sometimes recognise genocides, but it is not as common as in Italy.
These sub-national governments recognised the genocide through various means, such as resolutions, declarations, or official statements. In the world of international relations, national recognition is often considered a legitimate form of recognition on the global stage. Sub-national recognition, on its part, can be a means to achieve national recognition - it can be an effort to pressure the national government to recognise a historical event as genocide or give recognition to a newly formed state. Some of these recognitions are linked to diaspora populations and are a way for local politicians to reassure them that their local governments are respecting their heritage and history.
In the case of Italy and the Armenian Genocide, despite having barely 5,000 Armenians in the country, Italian sub-national governments have shown immense support by recognising the Armenian Genocide. Genocide recognition is seen as essential by many survivors and their descendants, especially in cases when genocides are being denied and contested by different actors for various political reasons. The Armenian Genocide has been consistently denied by the Turkish government, which wishes to avoid the historical blame for what took place in the Ottoman Empire. One of the arguments used against the recognition is that the Armenian Genocide happened before genocide was recognised as an international crime through the UN Genocide Convention of 1948. However, some genocides, such as the Holocaust, that happened before 1948 have been recognised internationally. It is critical for the Armenian people that the genocide is recognised internationally, as that sheds light on the truth behind the events that the Turkish government is trying to bury.
The Armenian Genocide
The event took place in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. In its glory days in the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire was a powerful state that prospered and whose citizens benefited from economic growth. According to the Armenian National Institute, the Armenians were treated as second-class citizens and forced to pay discriminatory taxes. They were denied participation in the government and denied protection. But, according to the Armenian scholar Ronald G. Suny, the Armenians were considered to be a loyal minority as they stayed in the Ottoman Empire, as opposed to other non-Muslims such as Bulgarians and Serbs, who had revolted and created their own states. The Armenians were generally loyal to the Ottoman Empire and hoped that they would one day be given some degree of autonomy.
However, by the 19th century, the empire’s power was declining, and it had lost some of its territory. This decline triggered economic and political struggles that led to the escalation of ethnic tensions. In 1908, a new ruling party came into power, called the Young Turks or Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), which promoted an ultra-nationalistic ideology and sought to create an exclusively Turkish state.
When the First World War broke out in 1914, the Ottoman Empire formed the Triple Alliance with other Central powers and joined the war against the Allied powers. According to Taner Akçam, a Turkish scholar, the Ottoman Empire saw the war as an opportunity to regain territories it had lost in the 1913 Balkan Wars. During these wars, the Ottoman Empire had lost more than 60% of its European territory. In his book “A Shameful Act”, Akçam argues that there was a growing belief among the leadership and the general public that it was impossible to live alongside the remaining Christian population. Thus, the Ottoman authorities formed a policy aimed at homogenising the population and removing the minorities. Armenians, being one of those minorities, were seen as a territorial obstacle to achieving an exclusive Turkish-Muslim state. There was a substantial number of Armenians living in areas between Turkey and several Turkic groups in Russia living near the frontiers. Combined with Russia’s intention to reacquire Armenian areas in eastern Turkey, the Ottoman Empire began seeing the Armenians as an existential threat.
So, in the spring and summer of 1915, the Armenian population was forcibly deported from their homes. The deportation was disguised as a resettlement program, but the deportees were forced to walk to their destination without food and water. The purpose of this policy was to remove the Armenians from the rest of society through death marches, with little to no destruction of property. This also made it possible for the CUP to plunder the Armenian’s wealth and expropriate their properties. The CUP even created a special organisation called the Teshkilâti Mahsusa to kill the deportees on their journey. It was an orchestrated massacre by the CUP to eradicate the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire. This massacre made thousands of Armenians flee across the globe. It is from this diaspora that the quest to gain recognition for the genocide started to grow. Uruguay was the first country to recognise the genocide in 1965, followed by Cyprus in 1975. But international recognition started to gain momentum in 1987 when the European Parliament passed a resolution that recognised the genocide. Ever since then, more than 30 countries have recognised the genocide.
Italy and Armenia
To get a better understanding of Italy’s Armenian Genocide recognition, we first need to understand the relationship between Italy and Armenia. The relations between Italy and Armenia can be traced back to the 12th century. In 1196, the Italian state of Venice sent its first consul to the Cilician Kingdom of Armenia. It was a follow-up act after the Armenian king granted special trade permits, tax exemption, and special import permits to Italian merchants of the era. The Armenian community was respected and well organised in Venice by the 16th century. Notably, the first-ever Armenian book was published in Venice in 1514. The Kingdom of Italy was also one of the first nations to condemn the Armenian Genocide during the First World War. Furthermore, Italy was one of the earliest nations to recognise the independence of Armenia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Sub-national recognition and why it matters
Looking into the Italian sub-national recognitions of the Armenian Genocide, I found that the first recognition that happened in 1997 was the result of an initiative by an organisation called Friends of Armenia. It is a US-based non-profit humanitarian organisation that provides resources for the Armenian people. In 1997, after they had initiated their campaign, 20 Italian sub-national governments recognised the Armenian genocide. It was the first wave of Armenian Genocide recognition in Italy. Since then, more sub-national governments have recognised the Armenian Genocide as a way to express support for the Armenian people. Numerous resolutions and official statements explicitly link these recognitions to the broader growth of Armenian Genocide recognition across Italy.
In November 2000, the Italian Parliament discussed the issue of recognising the Armenian Genocide in connection with Turkey’s intention to join the European Union. The Parliament argued that for Turkey to join the European Union, it needs to recognise the genocide and ease its tensions with Armenia. Finally, in April 2019, the lower house of the Italian parliament recognised the Armenian Genocide through a resolution with no votes against the motion. The resolution cites Pope Francis’ description of the genocide as “the first genocide of the 20th century”.
However, the sub-national recognitions were not solely done in solidarity with the Armenian people. They can also be seen as a political tool for Italian right-wing politicians. According to researcher Daniel Fittante, Italian right-wing populists often bring up the Armenian Genocide to criticise Turkey and promote Islamophobic views. Right-leaning MPs have often instrumentalised the Armenian Genocide to construct a divide between European and Middle Eastern countries, positioning Turkey among the latter. Furthermore, several MPs even argued that recognising the Armenian Genocide is a way to combat Islamic extremism, for instance, ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). They even draw parallels between the Deserts of Deir El-Zor, where the Armenian Genocide happened, and the fact that ISIS had one of its main bases there. This way, right-leaning MPs have been able to argue that recognising the Armenian Genocide is a way to combat Islamic extremism, something which helps them to further promote their Islamophobic agenda.
The Turkish Government, which has always denied the genocide, has also responded to the numerous sub-national recognitions. According to an Italian news article from 2017, Turkey, through its embassy in Italy, has sent letters to several Italian mayors and urged them not to use the word “genocide” in describing the massacre of the Armenian people. The Turkish government argued that a subjective interpretation of the event would jeopardise Italy’s relations with Turkey. Moreover, Turkey has argued that not recognising the genocide is consistent with freedom of expression in a democratic country. Among other things, the Turkish Government has continually denied the event and prevented experts’ attempts to study the genocide. In 2007, Turkey threatened to ban US aircrafts from using their American military bases in Turkey to fight the Iraqi insurgency if the US recognised the Armenian Genocide. The House of Representatives in the US wanted to pass a resolution recognising the genocide, but President George W. Bush pressured them and argued that it would damage relations with Turkey, a key NATO ally in the US war on terrorism. It resulted in President Bush publicly denouncing and preventing the genocide recognition resolution from passing (H.Res.106). In 2021, President Joe Biden finally recognised the genocide through an official statement.
Academically, the Turkish government has funded researchers and academic publications to raise doubt about the Armenian Genocide. In addition, it has also prohibited access to essential archives in Turkey that have indispensable information about the genocide. Based on the existing resources, researchers have argued and proved that the Ottoman Empire did intend to eradicate the Armenian people. More and more countries every year recognise the genocide, and based on historical evidence, there is a dominant view among academics and political actors that the massacre of the Armenians was indeed a genocide. The Turkish government’s act to warn mayors in Italy is part of a global strategy.
Researching the Armenian Genocide in relation to Italian sub-national recognitions has made me realise that it is only a small part of a much bigger picture in the Armenian Genocide recognition field. Italy’s right-wing MPs are trying to take advantage of the situation for their own benefit, and the Turkish government is trying its hardest to deny the genocide across the globe to avoid further condemnation from other countries. This can be related to Turkey’s history, as Akçam argued that Turkey’s origin was the result of the Ottoman Empire’s policy to create a country exclusively for the Turkish ethnics, while excluding minorities. It is not a surprise that the Turkish government is trying to deny anything that might tarnish its country’s reputation and foundation.
Keywords: #Armenia #Genocide #ArmenianGenocide #Italy #ForeignPolicy
David Gozali is a Global Studies master’s student at the University of Gothenburg. He did an internship in the project Localizing foreign policy during the spring of 2026.
