Many Turks in CDA, PvdA, and VVD deny genocide
By Eimert Mulder

Trouw (Dutch national newspaper)
September 22, 2006

Not only in the CDA (Christian Democrats), but also in other Dutch political
parties there are Turkish politicians who actively deny the genocide against
the Armenians.

This became apparent from an e-mail discussion in the Yahoo chat group
siyanet-nl, which this newspaper got hold of and which in June flared up as
a result of the proposal by the ChristenUnie to penalize denial of genocide.

The e-mails show a lobby, running through all the parties. Most participants
are Turkish municipal members or governmental members. They are mostly
affiliated with the CDA and PvdA (Labor Party), with a few in the VVD
(Liberal Democrats). Within the Turkish political spectrum, they are,
regardless of which Dutch stream they follow, generally supporters of
right-winged nationalist and religious philosophies. They are convinced that
what happened to the Armenians in 1915 was not genocide.

During the discussion they considered the question of how they can prevent
the Parliament from accepting the motion submitted by the ChristenUnie.
Ayhan Tonca and Osman Elmaci were among the participants. These two CDA
candidates for the parliamentary elections in November were in the news this
week because they deny the genocide.

Gor Koksal, VVD member of the States General in Noord-Holland, proposed in
the e-mail exchange to discuss the issue more seriously with the submitter
of the motion, Tieneke Huizinga. Members of siyanet-nl should argue that, in
the recent past, well-documented genocides have readily available
photographs and video-recordings. Is it then possible to use such a notion
for an "imaginary event," for which there is not a single piece of
historical evidence? It is in this manner that they should approach her,
writes Koksal.

They could also make a suggestion for her to support a symposium with Dutch
historians. Koksal said that he was against demonstrations and urged his
colleagues not to threaten or curse in e-mails. He is, as it says on his
website, political advisor to VVD MP Fadime Orgu and member of the
Integration Commission of Minister Verdonk.

Mahmut Yazici (CDA, Deventer) doesn’t see much in Koksal’s idea: "The
ChristenUnie has been working on this issue for many years and has a clear
goal. It is impossible to influence them in any way." His advice: to remind
the CU that they are a trivial party and not worth the energy that the other
parties should receive. The independent councilor Mustafa Ozcan (Amersfoort,
former GroenLinks (Greens)) seconded that. Following this, other members of
the siyanet-nl promised that they would do their best in their own parties.

Recep Soysal’s approach is different. He wondered why CDA, PvdA and VVD,
despite all the Turkish votes that they receive, still vote against Turkish
interests. He thinks it unwise to put the Armenian question on the agenda:
"According to me, it’s a trap that they want us to walk into." According to
him, there are dark intentions to distract Turkish politicians from their
actual agenda.

ChristenUnie takes the lead in legislation

On December 21, 2004, the Dutch Parliament unanimously adopted a motion
presented by the ChristenUnie (CU) that recognized the genocide of the
Armenians. In June, the CU submitted a bill that penalizes denial of a
genocide when done offensively. Just this week, the Council of State
responded. The law can now be worked on.

Last May in France, a vote was almost passed for a law that would penalize
denial of the Armenian Genocide. In the end, politicians felt that politics
should not write history. The delicate issue, which jeopardizes Turkey’s
relations, was postponed to October. Turkey denies that there was a
deliberate massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in 1915.