Main opposition CHP slams Dutch parliament’s motion on 1915 mass killing of Ottoman Armenians
ANKARA
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has condemned a recent motion in the Dutch parliament that recognized the 1915 mass killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as “genocide.”
Speaking to journalists in parliament on Feb. 26, CHP deputy chair Öztürk Yılmaz said: “The decision taken in the Dutch parliament recognizing the 1915 events as genocide is wrong and we condemn it.”
Yılmaz said “nobody could use Turkey’s history to serve their own domestic policy.”
Last week, the Dutch parliament passed a motion acknowledging the killings of Ottoman Armenians in 1915 as “genocide” with 142 votes in favor of the recognition, while the Turkish-founded Denk Party opposed it with three votes.
Yılmaz called on the Turkish government to take necessary steps before the U.S. Congress makes the same decision.
“This issue could come to the agenda of the U.S. Congress before April 24... If the same decision is made in the U.S. Congress, the effect will be different from the decision of the Dutch parliament,” the lawmaker said.
“The government should take necessary steps linked to this issue,” he said.
Turkey argues that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia in 1915 occurred after some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. Ankara does not recognize it as a genocide, but says there were casualties on both sides during World War I.
