Genocide denial causes Dutch election upset

"It might seem a little strange but the Armenian genocide of 1915 has become an issue in the run up to the Dutch elections. The two leading parties in the opinion polls have kicked out prospective MPs because they deny that the genocide took place. The candidates, one from the opposition Labour Party and two from the biggest coalition party - the Christian Democrat CDA - are Dutch/Turkish politicians. It made the headlines after questions were raised by the Armenian community in the Netherlands when the names of the candidates were made public on the party lists for the November elections, and a heated discussion soon followed. The candidates in question had clearly stated in the past that, in their view, the genocide of Armenians in Turkey in 1915 had not taken place. This view is contrary to the official policy of the Dutch government and of the parties themselves. Tineke Huizinga is from the Christian Union - a small party in the parliament which introduced an initiative in 2004 saying that the government has to push for recognition of the genocide in Turkey as part of the negotiations for Turkey's desired accession to the EU. That initiative was unanimously accepted. Ms Huzinga explains the official Dutch position: "More than one and a half million people were murdered during the time of World War I by Turkey and this was a genocide and you can absolutely compare this with the Holocaust."

Swedish producers of a documentary on the Armenian Genocide threatened

Director Suzanne Khardalian told that they have notified about the exclusion just one day before the festival. Khardalian said: "This morning we have received an e-mail which was informing us about the exclusion. Then festival committee president Nurdan Arca called my partner Pea Holmquist and notified him. She told us we are still invited to the festival as the directors but they can not guarantee safety of our lives during the festival. She also told us that the reason behind this changed schedule was the Ministry of Culture's pressures against the festival committee."

EU urges Turkey to face Armenian Genocide

Turkey must recognise the Armenian genocide as a precondition for EU entry, senior MEPs have insisted. In a vote on Monday evening, the European parliament's foreign affairs committee expressed regret that Turkey was not facing up to its past. “The committee wants recognition of the Armenian genocide to be a clear pre-condition for EU entry and this will now be put to the plenary vote,” parliamentary rapporteur Camiel Eurling said on Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed in Turkey between 1915 and 1917 - but the Ankara government rejects the genocide claim. The report sparked a huge discussion in the prominent parliamentary committee - with over 300 amendments filed.

Senator Blocks Vote On New U.S. Envoy To Armenia

A U.S. senator put a hold Tuesday on the nomination of Richard Hoagland to be ambassador to Armenia to protest the Bush administration's refusal to classify the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as genocide. Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 13-5 to send Hoagland's nomination to the full Senate for a vote. Until Democratic Senator Robert Menendez lifts his hold, however, the Senate cannot vote on Hoagland's nomination. Under Senate rules, any senator can block nominations or legislation. Menendez said all Americans must recognize the atrocities committed between 1915 to 1923 in Armenia, during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, amounted to genocide. The Bush administration and Turkey, successor to the Ottoman state, admit many Armenians died but reject the genocide classification.