Your trusted source

A majority the lower house of Dutch parliament, approved two motions regarding the Armenian genocide of 1915 on Thursday. NL Times reports, one states that the Tweede Kamer "recognizes the Armenian genocide", the other that a Dutch Minister or State Secretary should attend the commemoration of this genocide in Armenia in April. This decision is expected to further sour the relationship between Turkey and the Netherlands.

Both motions were submitted by Christen Unie parliamentarian Joel Voordewind. All four coalition parties supported the motions.

To remind, back in 2004, the Dutch Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide and calling on the Netherlands government to consistently bring up the Armenian Genocide in future negotiations dealing with Turkey's accession to the European Union. However, the Netherlands in its references to the Genocide used the wording "issue of the Armenian genocide."

According to the source, the majority in parliament believes it is time for that to change. "We cannot deny history out of fear of sanctions. Our country houses the capital of international law after all, so we must not be afraid to do the right thing here too", Voordewind said on Friday.

It is noted that the relationship between the Netherlands and Turkey is already tense, since the Netherlands refused Turkish ministers access to the country to campaign for a referendum that gave president Recep Tayyip Erdogan more power. Recently talks to repair this relationship broke down, and the Netherlands officially recalled the Dutch ambassador to the country.