Claims of Alleged Armenian Genocide Spread
The Dutch Parliament made an unbinding advisory decision to bring the allegations to the table during Turkey’s negotiation process. France has also announced that Turkey must acknowledge the alleged genocide during the negotiation process. Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said they will be working to get the Armenian genocide issue onto the United Nations (UN) General Council agenda in 2005.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul discussed the issue in Turkish Parliament the other day and said he expects the alleged Armenian genocide to be presented to Turkey by the next period.
According to an NTV news report, some parliamentarians in the general assembly of the Dutch Parliament requested that the government recognize the alleged Armenian genocide during the last parliamentary session of 2004. The parliamentarians asked for a binding decision to be by the parliament to negotiate on the Armenian genocide allegations during bilateral relations with Turkey. During a voting seesion, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said a binding decision is unnecessary. Bot indicated that the Armenian question was sometimes raised during meetings with Turkish officials and that it will be discussed going forward as well.
Turkey’s Ambassador to The Hague, Tarcan Ildem, said that the Armenian question had been discussed at the Dutch Parliament, but that it is impossible that France or the Netherlands will officially recognize the alleged genocide. Ildem noted that the decision of the Dutch Parliament is similar to a recommendation.
Making a statement on Armenian television Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan made a statement on Armenian television stating that raising the Armenian genocide issue during Turkey’s negotiations with the EU is an indication that the issue no longer belongs to Yerevan alone and is now a topic of international relations. 450 people claiming to be relatives of victims in the alleged genocide have applied to the Armenian Justice Ministry demanding amends.
