Dutch parliament to vote on the Armenian Genocide motions on February 22
The lower house of the Dutch parliament is poised to vote on the two motions, recognizing the Armenian Genocide on February 22. Ermenihaber reports, one of the bills that recognizes the Armenian genocide and the second - calling on the Dutch Minister or State Secretary to attend the commemoration of the genocide in Armenia are already guaranteed the support of a majority of MPs.
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."
"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", the initiator of the legislation parliamentarian of the Cristian Union Joel Voordewind had stated.
As reported on Monday, Turkey summoned the Dutch charge d'affaires to Ankara to express its unhappiness with the proposed bills labeling them as unacceptable.
The motions are believed to risk further souring relations between Turkey and the Netherlands, the relationship between the Netherlands and Turkey is already tense, since the Netherlands refused Turkish ministers access to the country to campaign for a 2017 referendum that gave President Tayyip Erdogan more power.