Belgian turkish parliament member who refused to recognize Armenian Genocide expelled from Belgian party

 Belgian turkish parliament member who refused  to recognize Armenian Genocide expelled from Belgian party

Mahinur Ozdemir, tukish by origin, was the the first woman with a headscarf who was to become member of the Belgian parliament. Ozdemir refused to recognize the 1915 events as genocide and was expelled by a committee from her party, the Humanist Democratic Centre (CHD). 

ARMENPRESS – Belgian “Humanist Democratic Centre” (CDH) has made a final OFFICIAL decision to expel Turkish Mahinur Ozdemir from the party for refusing to recognize the Armenian Genocide. “Armenpress” reports lecdh.be website informs about this. The final decision to expel the Turkish member from the party was made by the ethics committee.

Leader of CDH party Benoit Lutgen hailed the decision to expel Mahinur Ozdemir from the party, mentioning, “Political commitment requires clarity and full faithfulness towards the values embraced by us”.

Mahinur Özdemir, who was the first muslim to enter the Belgian parliament with a head-scarf, boycotted the minute of silence dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims in spring of 2015, announcing that “The resolution adopted by European Parliament is not mandatory.

Later she refused to sign the communiqué submitted by the head of her party, Lutgen, which assessed the incidents of 1915 as genocide, for which she was dismissed from the party. Afterwards, she appealed the decision of the party. She demanded “Humanist Democratic Centre”party to renounce the decision of her dismissal explaining it as an illegal measure and discrimination.