Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan offered a cold response to Israel’s recent decision to officially recognize the genocide committed against his people by the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

“We believe that not entering into the issue of the weaponization of the Armenian Genocide is in the interests of the Republic of Armenia. Therefore, we do not see any need for a response,” Pashinyan told reporters when asked about the Israeli decision on Monday.

Pashinyan suggested that Israel’s decision was politically motivated, given that Jerusalem has for decades refrained from recognizing the Armenian genocide in order to avoid upsetting ally-turned-foe Turkey.

Israel-Turkey relations deteriorated dramatically since the Hamas-sparked Gaza war, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken to regularly likening Israel to the Nazis and accusing the IDF of genocide in Gaza.

Pashinyan’s comments were among the first to come out of Yerevan, which has been largely silent since the Israeli cabinet voted on Sunday to recognize the Armenian genocide. The prime minister’s comments to reporters a day later offered an indication into why that was.

Erdogan decided to weigh in on Tuesday, dismissing the Israeli cabinet decision that is expected to be approved by the Knesset in the coming days.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says he will not respond to Israel's recent decision to recognize the Armenian Genocide: We believe that not entering into the issue of the weaponization of the Armenian Genocide is in the interests of the Republic of Armenia. Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#Article_Incontent1")){ window.tude = window.tude || { cmd: [] }; tude.cmd.push(function() { if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("rgbmedia-app") > -1){ tude.setDeviceType("mobile"); } tude.refreshAdsViaDivMappings([ { divId: 'Article_Incontent1', baseDivId: 'Article_Incontent1', } ]); }); } Therefore,… pic.twitter.com/8tr6ubCzBf — Tabz (@TabzLIVE) June 29, 2026

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says he will not respond to Israel's recent decision to recognize the Armenian Genocide:

We believe that not entering into the issue of the weaponization of the Armenian Genocide is in the interests of the Republic of Armenia.

Therefore,… pic.twitter.com/8tr6ubCzBf

— Tabz (@TabzLIVE) June 29, 2026

Turkey has fiercely lobbied to prevent countries from officially recognizing the mass deaths of Armenians around 1915 as genocide, even as Armenians have pushed for........

© The Times of Israel