Kurdish MP’s Vote Decisive for Passage of Genocide Resolution in Swedish Parliament

The vote of Gulan Avcı, a Swedish parliamentarian born in the town of Van in Eastern Turkey and Kurdish by ethnicity, played a decisive role in the passage of a March 11 Swedish parliament resolution that recognized the Armenian Genocide. The parliament narrowly adopted the resolution with a vote of 131 to 130.

Turkish news agency Firat reports that the resolution was adopted due to the vote of this deputy from the Swedish People’s Party, despite that fact that the party was against the resolution.

“The recognition of the Genocide by the Swedish parliament is very important. I know that my vote was a decisive one. It was necessary, as it was high time for Turkey to settle its past and recognize the genocides and massacres it perpetrated throughout its history. Several nations worldwide consider Turkey a genocidal state,” said Avcı.

Ironically, earlier, US House Resolution 252 on the Armenian Genocide was adopted by the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee because of a vote by a Muslim Senator.