The House of Representatives wants the caretaker cabinet to actually recognize the mass murder of Armenians between 1915 and 1917. Until now, the government uses the veiled phrase “the question of the Armenian genocide”. A majority thinks absurd.
The ChristenUnie in particular has been trying since 2004 to get the genocide by the Ottoman Empire fully recognized by our country. The House then passed a motion from the ChristenUnie, calling on the government to raise the issue of recognition in dialogue with Turkey.
Three years ago, the Chamber itself recognized the Armenian Genocide, again at the initiative of the ChristenUnie. But the cabinet is still sticking to the less stringent formulation.
According to Member of Parliament Joël Voordewind of the smallest government party, the Armenians feel the threat of President Erdogan’s Turkey more than a hundred years after the genocide. Last year, they supported Azerbaijan in the fight against the Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. “This aggression must be stopped,” says Voordewind.
A majority of PVV, CDA, SP, GroenLinks, SGP, Party for the Animals, 50Plus, Forum for Democracy and the independent MPs Krol and Van Kooten-Arissen support him in this. The motion will be put to the vote this afternoon.
The parties want to promote reconciliation and prevent a recurrence of the genocide. “That is why it is first of all very important that countries speak out clearly. A large majority in parliament calls on the Dutch government to finally do this.”