Turkey reacts to Dutch parliament's recognition of Armenian Genocide
Turkey has reacted to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Netherlands' parliament.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry “strongly” condemned the decisions of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands recognizing the “events of 1915 as genocide”, saying in a statement that the decision was “not legally binding or valid”.
“The established jurisprudence in European law and the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights affirm our rightfulness,” the ministry said.
To remind, the lower house of the Dutch parliament overwhelmingly passed two motions recognizing as "genocide" the 1915 massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
The motions were adopted with 142 votes in favour and 3 against.
The first motion reaffirms the decision of the Netherlands to recognize the Armenian Genocide back in 2004. According to the second motion, a government representative will be sent to Yerevan, Armenia's capital, on April 24 of this year for the commemorations of Genocide victims and every five years afterward.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry welcomed the Dutch lawmakers' decision to reaffirm recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
“We highly appreciate the debates held today in the Parliament of friendly Netherlands and the decisions adopted as the result, which unequivocally reaffirm the recognition of the Armenian Genocide back in 2004.
With this step, the Parliament of the Netherlands once again reconfirmed its commitment to universal human values and the noble cause of prevention of genocides and crimes against humanity,” Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in a statement.