Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, April 25 that there was no place in the country's parliament for a lawmaker who introduced a bill on recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire by Ankara in 1915, TASS reports.
"We perceive [the bill] as an open betrayal in the highest instance," Erdogan said in a televised address to the nation after a government meeting on Monday. He expressed hope that necessary measures would be taken against the deputy, "who violated the norms of law and morality of the parliament."
HDP lawmaker of Armenian descent Garo Paylan introduced the bill on the recognition of the Genocide, while another MP, Sezgin Tanrıkulı of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), is being investigated for social media posts about the Genocide.
On April 24, 1915, a large group of Armenian intellectuals was rounded up and assassinated in Constantinople by the Ottoman government. On April 24, 2022, Armenians worldwide commemorated the 107th anniversary of the Genocide which continued until 1923. Some three dozen countries, hundreds of local government bodies and international organizations have so far recognized the killings of 1.5 million Armenians as Genocide. Turkey denies to this day.
