Turkish MP Didn’t Vote on Swedish Parliament Genocide Resolution

Green (or Environmental) Party member of Swedish parliament (Riksdag) Mehmet Kaplan, who is of Turkish descent, left the hall during the March 11 vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

According to Turkish news source Today’s Zaman, Kaplan said the resolution could obstruct the recent developments in Turkey and called on parliamentarians to vote against the resolution.

However, Turkish daily Milliyet reported that if Kaplan had not left the room, had instead stayed and voted “no,” perhaps the resolution wouldn’t have been approved — especially since the resolution was approved with 131 in favour and 130 against.