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. This decision has distorted the historical facts and disregarded the law.

The aforementioned decision constitutes the last step in the activities which have turned into a campaign to tarnish the Turkish identity and history since the outset of 2015, in Belgium. The statement of the Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel on 18 June 2015; anti-democratic practices incompatible with the fundamental rights and freedoms, particularly with the freedom of expression to which the politicians who express different views have been subjected; and lastly the grave picture that emerged with the decision of the House of Representatives of Belgium dated 23 July 2015, have been also regretted by the Turkish Belgian community and have reached a stage affecting profoundly our bilateral relations.

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.