Turkey Condemns Belgium Over Armenian Genocide Resolution

ANKARA — The Armenian Genocide resolution passed by the parliament of Belgium, prompted a swift condemnation from Ankara, which accused the resolution of having “distorted historical facts and disregarded the law.” Turkish media reports.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement in response to the resolution and said that Turkey has been accused unfairly, once again, regarding the issue and warned that adoption of the resolution will have a deep impact on bilateral relations between the two countries..

“The aforementioned decision constitutes the last step in actions that have amounted to a campaign to tarnish Turkish history and identity in Belgium since the beginning of the year,” the statement read, continuing: “A statement [released by Michel] on June 18, anti-democratic practices incompatible with fundamental rights and freedoms, particularly the freedom of expression that has been denied to politicians who express opposing views, and, lastly, the grave picture that has emerged from the decision of the House of Representatives of Belgium dated July 23, are all regretted by the Turkish Belgian community and have profoundly affected our bilateral relations.”

“It should be understood that this decision and other similar ones do not serve the interests of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation in any way. We strongly condemn this decision, which unjustly mires our history and ignores historical facts and the legacy of the Turkish people,” the statement from the Foreign Ministry concluded.