Armenian Genocide Monument in Brussels defaced with Turkish crescent and hate speech

BRUSSELS – The Armenian Genocide Monument in the Belgian capital of Brussels has been smeared by unkonwon persons with nationalist and Turkish crescent signs. Also, hate speech against the Armenian Member of Turkish Parliament Garo Paylan has been written on the monument.

The suspects are believed to belong to Turkish ultranationalist organizations, namely within the Grey Wolves.

Last week, MP Garo Paylan introduced a bill in the Turkish Parliament calling for recognition of the 1915 genocide. However, the bill was rejected – without being discussed in parliament – by the president of the Turkish Assembly and AKP MPs. Paylan was subsequently attacked in Turkish media – which is largely affiliated with or directly controlled by the AKP-MHP government.

A demonstration of the Turkish position with regard to the Armenian Genocide was seen a few days ago when the Turkish Foreign Minister, on an official visit in Uruguay, flashed the sign of the ultranationalist Grey Wolves to protesting Armenians (Uruguay is one of the first countries to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide).

Turkish FM Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu made the gesture of the racist “Gray Wolves” organization to demonstrators from the Armenian community in Uruguay who were marching the day before the 107th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. pic.twitter.com/ZB5iNEcblc

— Վicky🇦🇲🇦🇷 (@vickysheklian) April 23, 2022