The Parliament of the Netherlands has adopted on February 25 two pro-Armenian motions: the one is the motion submitted by MP Joël Voordewind (ChristenUnie), which calls on the Dutch government explicitly to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The other motion by MP Martijn van Helvert relates to the need of the return of Armenian prisoners of war from Azerbaijan, President of the Federation of Armenian Organisations in the Netherlands (FAON) Mato Hakhverdian told Armenpress, stating that the Dutch-Armenians welcome the adoption of these two motions and thank for such a position.
“The motions were adopted by the majority of votes. Only the pro-Turkish faction (3 MPs) voted against. Joël Voordewind urged the government to announce how it is going to implement the provisions of the motion adopted by the large number of MPs”, Hakhverdian said.
“This very broad support for the motion shows that for too long there has been great dissatisfaction in the Parliament how the successive governments have dealt with the Armenian Genocide. FAON, the 24 April Committee and all Armenians are thankful to Joël Voordewind and also to the many other MPs, who were committed to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide for many years. Many of them showed their commitment by being present at 24 april commemorations, at Genocide monuments, concerts, such as the Armenian Genocide Centennial commemoration concert in the Grote Kerk in the Hague. FAON is grateful to them all.
FAON is also thanking the members of Recommending Committee of 24 April Committee for their support for years. The motion's message is that a clear language is needed to resolve precarious issues in the future. The FAON considers this idea especially important, given the current situation, in which Genocide Watch warned of a new genocide during the war in Nagorno Karabakh, and after the war both Turkey and Azerbaijan are aggressive towards Armenia. The failure to identify and recognize historical events as genocide can be considered as the wrong signal. The FAON assumes that the government will not disregard this very clear statement of the Parliament and will implement it. In earlier motions (2015, 2018), the Parliament explicitly recognized the Armenian Genocide, after the Dutch Parliament had already recognized it in 2004 in the motion by MP Rouvoet adopted unanimously, which appeals to the government “to expressly and continuously raise the recognition of the Armenian Genocide during the bilateral and EU dialogue with Turkey”.
With the new motion, the Parliament announces that it can no longer agree with the government's current approach. As it is known, other Christian minorities, such as Assyrians, Arameans and Pontic Greeks, were also victims of the Armenian Genocide. In the same way as for Dutch people with an Armenian background, also for people with these backgrounds, the government's failure to recognize the genocide has always been painful”, FAON said in a statement.
