Turkey rejects Belgium’s Nagorno-Karabakh resolution

ANKARA

Turkey on Friday rejected the resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh adopted by the lower house of Belgian Parliament. 

Responding to a question in writing, the Spokesperson of Turkish Foreign Ministry Hami Aksoy said the resolution 1597 related to Nagorno-Karabakh adopted by Belgium’s House of Representative is neither historical nor compatible with facts.

“The resolution 1597 is neither historical, legal, nor compatible with the facts in the field. We reject this decision, which includes baseless allegations and accusations against Turkey,” he said.

Aksoy emphasized that this decision is an obvious example of how the Belgian House of Representatives and some parliaments are becoming tools of one-way Armenian rhetoric, act with prejudices, and remain hostages to narrow interests aimed at domestic politics.

"The decision will not contribute to Turkey-Belgium relations, nor will it serve efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region,” he said.

He added that “such decisions also delay the process of accepting the facts of Armenia and encourage it to avoid taking on its responsibilities”.

“However, the reference to the events of 1915 in the decision of the Belgian House of Representatives to declare Dec. 9 as the day of remembrance of the victims of the genocides, adopted on the same day, is also contrary to the basic principles of law, especially the decisions of the European Court of Human Right (ECHR),” he said.

Aksoy said that he expected Belgium to act with reason and to stay away from taking steps that will overshadow bilateral relations.

New clashes erupted on Sept. 27, and the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violating cease-fire agreements.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from Armenia occupation.

The two countries signed a Russia-brokered agreement on Nov. 10 to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

Turkish stance on 1915 events

Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of these incidents as "genocide," describing them as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia as well as international experts to tackle the issue.

*Writing by Merve Berker