Turkish Dutch MPs accused of betrayal by pro-Ankara paper

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish newspaper Sabah has accused five members of the Dutch parliament of ‘betrayal’ after they voted to recognise the Armenian Genocide of 1915, DutchNews.nl reports.

The five MPs – Dilan Yesilgöz of the VVD party, Socialist MPs Cem Lacin and Saadet Karabulut and GreenLeft members Zinhi Özdil en Nevin Özütok – are all of Turkish descent.

They were subjected to a blizzard of abuse on social media after the newspaper, which supports the Turkish government, branded them ‘traitors to the mother country’ and called the vote ‘scandalous’.

Parliamentary chairwoman Khadija Arib denounced the newspaper’s intervention. "Threats or inciting threats in response to people expressing their opinion is unacceptable," she told Nieuwsuur.

"This has no place in a democracy and in a free and open society such as ours."

The Dutch parliament approved a resolution on February 22, recognizing the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1922.

Under another motion, also approved by the Dutch parliament, a cabinet representative should attend the commemoration of Genocide in Armenia in April.