Friday, July 24 2015 15:13

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey has accused Belgian parliament of distorting the historical facts and disregarding the law. 

"Turkey has been accused once again unfairly by the decision on the commemoration of the Armenian genocide centennial adopted by the House of Representatives of Belgium on 23 July 2015," the Turkish MFA statement reads. 

The statement of the Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel on 18 June 2015 emerged with the decision of the House of Representatives of Belgium dated 23 July 2015. 

The statement then reads that it is difficult to comprehend that at a period when Europe is facing serious challenges including the economic crisis, the House of Representatives is spending its efforts, needed to ensure the welfare of its citizens, on an issue alien to the nature of the Turkish-Belgian relations and on which there is no historical, legal, academic or political consensus and it is acting as if it is its flag-bearer. "It should be understood that this decision and other similar ones do not serve to the interests of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation in any way. We strongly condemn this decision unjustly accusing our history and ignoring historical facts and the memory of Turkish people".     To note, on July 23, the Belgian Parliament's Chamber of Representatives passed the resolution on the Armenian Genocide almost unanimously - with 124 pros, 8 abstentions and no cons.  On June 18 this year the Prime Minister of Belgium reaffirmed the position of the Government on the unconditional recognition of the Armenian Genocide. On July 7 the Belgian Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee adopted the draft resolution on the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire with an overwhelming majority of votes. To recall, in 1998 the Belgian Senate adopted a resolution on recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and urged the Government to take the same step.