Turkey strongly condemns Dutch view of 1915 events

By Merve Aydogan

Turkey on Thursday strongly condemned the Dutch parliament's motion recognizing Armenian allegations of "genocide" during 1915 events.

"We strongly condemn the decision of the Netherlands' House of Representatives today to recognize the 1915 events as 'genocide'," Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Describing the Dutch parliament's decision as "baseless", the ministry said the decision has no place in either history or justice. "Therefore, it has no legal binding or validity," it added.

It further said "Turkey's position regarding 1915 events is based on historical facts and principle of law."

Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia in 1915 occurred after some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Ankara does not accept the alleged "genocide", but acknowledges there were casualties on both sides during World War I.

Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as “genocide” but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy for both sides.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia plus international experts to tackle the issue.