Dutch MPs call on their government to finally fully recognize Armenian Genocide / Sayfo

THE HAGUE — Dutch parliament yesterday adopted a widely supported motion calling on their government to fully recognize the Armenian Genocide and the Sayfo Genocide of 1915. The motion was submitted by Member of Parliament Don Ceder (Christian Union).

He and co-signers — Isa Kahraman (NSC), Chris Stoffer (SGP), Caroline van der Plas (BBB), and Derk Boswijk (CDA) — submitted motion 21501-02-3122, in which they call on the Dutch government to no longer speak of “the issue of the Armenian genocide [also known as Sayfo]” but of “the Armenian genocide [also known as Sayfo].” Furthermore, the submitters call on the government to do so by 24 April 2025, the annual commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

Dutch parliament itself has unanimously recognized, several times, the genocide of the Armenians, Syriacs (Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans) and Greeks, starting in 2004 with a motion of then MP Andre Rouvoet (Christen Union). The 2004 motion was followed by another explicit recognition in 2018 (Voordewind c.s. motion), and two more in 2021 and 2023. However, the Dutch government has always refused to move to full recognition and the Tweede Kamer, and, more important, relatives of the genocide victims, had to settle for “the issue of the Armenian genocide [also known as Sayfo].”

Related: Suryoyo MP in Swedish parliament Yusuf Aydin: Swedish government should officially recognize Sayfo Genocide of 1915

Yesterday, no fewer than 147 of the 150 members of the Tweede Kamer voted in favor. The pro-Turkish party Denk (3 seats) voted against, of course. The likelihood that the government will grant full recognition for the Armenian Genocide / Sayfo Genocide this time is high, as all government parties (NSC, PVV, BBB, VVD) voted in favor.

1915 Sayfo Genocide

The Sayfo Genocide of 1915 was committed by the predominantly Turkish forces of the Ottoman Empire and their allied Kurdish tribes against the Syriac (Aramean–Assyrian–Chaldean), Armenian, and Greek people.

The year 1915, during World War I, was actually only the culmination of this genocide. The period 1894-1915 was a period that Israeli scholars Benny Morris and Dror Ze’evi call the ‘Thirty Year Genocide,’ with 1915 being only the bloody climax in a long series of bloody events. In that year, the Ottoman army and the Kurdish tribes that had allied with them, brutally murdered millions of Syriacs (Arameans–Assyrians–Chaldeans), Armenians, and Greeks, expelled hundreds of thousands more, and forcibly converted many of those who remained to Islam.