Dutch MEP Sander Smit about Sayfo Genocide: “Without recognition there is no justice. Without justice there will be no peace and reconciliation. Never again! is now!”

BRUSSELS – Dutch Member of European Parliament for the Boer Burger Beweging, Sander Smit, delivered a speech in front of his colleagues in parliament in which he commented on the contemporary persecution of Christians, Alawites, and other components in the Middle East, and remembered the Armenian Genocide, the Sayfo Genocide, and the Pontic Greek Genocide. He linked the ongoing crimes against the smaller peoples of the Middle East to the past genocides. The barbarism of the past continues to this day, with Christians, Alawites, Yazidis, and other communities in the Middle East being subjected to all kinds of violations and killings.

Also read: Victorian lawmakers call for recognition of 1915 Sayfo Genocide

His words came on the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and Sayfo Genocide by the Ottoman Empire because of their faith and identity. 

“110 years ago, the Armenian Genocide took place. 1.5 million Armenians murdered for their identity and faith. Arameans, Pontic Greeks, and Chaldeans were massacred. This is not only something from the past. Even today, Christians, Alawites, Yazidis, and other minorities in the Middle East are being expelled and slaughtered.” 

Smit highlighted the ancient cultural Armenian heritage of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), which has been systematically destroyed by Azerbaijan. He also remembered his parliamentarian colleagues that after 1915 the world went silent. Perpetrators went unpunished. And new genocides followed. Therefore, he said; 

“Never again! is a command, not a slogan. A command!… It starts with recognition of the genocide by all member states, and by Turkey. Without recognition there is no justice. Without justice there will be no peace and reconciliation. Never again! is now!” 

The statement by Sander Smit was welcomed by the European Syriac Union, which praised Smit’s courage to achieve full recognition for the Sayfo Genocide, the Armenian Genocide, and the Pontic Greek Genocide.

Thanks to MEP @sandersmitwzn for his courageous stance on the recognition of the #genocide #1915 pic.twitter.com/ckVS0AtcHh

— EuropeanSyriacUnion (@esu_int) April 5, 2025