At the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) in The Hague a meeting was held on 12 May 2016 between the Minister of Social Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher and representatives of the Federation of Armenian Organisations in the Netherlands (FAON) and its 24 April Committee.

The FAON representatives discussed with the Minister, who also holds the integration portfolio, a number of issues that are important for Armenians in the Netherlands.

One of these points concerns the attitude of some Turkish Dutch regarding the Armenian Genocide. On the one hand they deny the genocide, often on the basis of the denial propaganda of the Turkish government and media, on the other hand they are showing unacceptable behaviour towards Dutch Turks who recognise the genocide, for example following the TV documentary series Blood Brothers.

The FAON delegation considers that, in order to obviate the lack of knowledge, there is an important role for education and asked the minister to promote the education of the Armenian Genocide, as it is the case with the Holocaust. The Minister shares this concern and will discuss this point with the Minister of Education.

The delegation also asked the Minister to be alert and to take a stand against the discrimination, hate speech and insulting a group, held towards Armenians by some Dutch Turks. The Armenian delegation put forward that the absence of a decision by the Public Prosecution, after almost two years, to the plaintiff concerning slogans that have been used during the Turkish demonstration in Almelo on 1 June 2014, is perceived by the accused as encouragement to repeat the same slogans recently. In response the Ministry of Social Affairs asked the Armenian Federation to provide video and other material, so that they can use it for talks with Turkish organisations. Obviously the Ministry cannot play any role in the decision of the Public Prosecution for the plaintiff’s handling.

In Turkey itself the position of Armenians is particularly vulnerable, even in the Turkish Parliament, where recently parliamentarians of the ruling party verbally and physically attacked MP Garo Paylan, because of his Armenian descent. He is a member of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

The position of the FAON at the future dialogue meetings of the Ministry with Turkish, Kurdish and other organisations, will be considered when this meetings will be organised.

The delegation of FAON stated the opinion concerning the position of the Dutch government regarding the Armenian Genocide and mentioned that the attitude of many other Western countries is clearer on this issue. In 2015, in many countries where this was not already the case, the genocide was recognised; also the Belgian Prime Minister speaking on behalf of the Belgian Government recognised the genocide. In his statement on 24 April 2016 President Obama spoke about the first mass atrocities of the 20th century using the Armenian term of the genocide, Meds Yerghern, and thereby explicitly mentioned that one and a half million Armenian people were deported, massacred, and marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman Empire.

Even though the Dutch government recognises that there is international consensus among scientists about the Armenian Genocide, it would not employ this term. Also a factual description of the history is missing, like Obama does give in his declaration.

The Armenian Federation finds that this is disappointing and inaccurate, especially for a country where international law and peace are so highly valued, where the parliament has unanimously recognised the genocide and this recognition is so strongly supported in society. The developments taking place in Germany in this context are important. The Ministry of Social Affairs follows these developments.

During the meeting, the Mrs Haygan Mardikjan offered her book “The call of the crane” to the Minister. When asked, she explained the content of the book, which describes the history of her grandparents at the time of the genocide and the journey that she in their footsteps made through Turkey.

Also the problematic human rights situation in Turkey was discussed. Furthermore the Armenian Federation has expressed concerns about the violence and the threat of war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Finally, the Armenian Federation drew attention of Minister to Armenian Syrian refugees, who are threatened at this moment with the withdrawal of their resident permits. The Ministry will seek information on this issue.