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Turkey blasts Dutch parliament motion on 1915 events

ANKARA, Feb 22 (KUNA) -- The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Thursday strongly condemned the Dutch parliament's motion recognizing the 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'," Turkey's Anadolu Agency quoted the ministry as saying 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. Turkey's position regarding 1915 events is based on historical facts and principle of law," according to the statement.
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 claim of genocide but acknowledges there were casualties on both sides during World War I.
Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia plus international experts to tackle the issue. (end) rs.gb