The Dutch Parliament held a vote on the Nagorno-Karabakh war on November 17. Four of the eight resolutions initiated by Martijn van Helvert, member of the Christian Democratic Appeal, Joël Voordewind, member of the Christian Union, Sadet Karabulut, member of the Socialist Party, and Tunahan Kuzu, member of the Denk ("Think"), were adopted, two were rejected and two were withdrawn before voting.
On the day the resolutions were adopted, Armenian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Tigran Balayan, wrote on Twitter that, “Dutch parliament adopted motions on individual sanctions against the President of Azerbaijan and the First Vice President of Azerbaijan for war crimes and atrocities against Artsakh, EU wide arms embargo against Turkey for its complicity in aggression.”
“The Fact Check” examined whether the ambassador's claim was true.
The screenshot was taken from the Twitter account of the Armenian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Tigran Balayan.
Motions calling for Turkey's expulsion from NATO and the European Union's support for a ceasefire agreement between Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were not adopted due to insufficient votes. The content of the motions under discussion was as follows:
Motion on the study of the legal basis for the recognition of the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh by the Dutch government - withdrawn
Motion on a temporary ban on arms sales to Turkey - adopted
Motion on Turkey's expulsion from NATO - rejected
Motion on the discussion on the implementation of sanctions against the President of Azerbaijan and his family members in the European Union - adopted
Motion on supporting the agreement signed between Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia at the EU level - rejected
Motion on the government's efforts under the EU and the OSCE to send international observers to Nagorno-Karabakh - adopted
Motion on humanitarian support to Nagorno-Karabakh - withdrawn
Motion on government’s efforts to impose sanctions on Turkey and Azerbaijan, which violated human rights in Nagorno-Karabakh - adopted
Arms sales to Turkey
The motion on banning the arms sales to Turkey was supported by an absolute majority of deputies. Such that 147 out of 150 deputies voted in favor of the motion.
The motion states that Turkey was militarily involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, brought jihadist fighters from Syria to Nagorno-Karabakh, was involved in the conflicts in Syria and Libya, and produced gas and oil from Greek territories under international law.
The motion calls on the Dutch government to step up efforts to gain the support of European Union countries to ban arms sales to Turkey.
Sanctions against the President of Azerbaijan
The second motion calls for discussions on the implementation of sanctions against the President of Azerbaijan and his family members in the European Union. The motion, adopted by 98 votes, states that Turkey, which brought jihadists from Azerbaijan and Syria, has committed war crimes in Nagorno-Karabakh in the past five weeks. The motion called on the government to discuss sanctions against Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his family members, as well as key figures in the Azerbaijani army, in the European Union. Another similar motion states that Azerbaijan started a war with the encouragement of Turkey. That motion also calls on the government to impose individual sanctions.
The fourth motion states the sending of international observers to Nagorno-Karabakh and the identification of the possible contributions of the European Union to the peace and stability process.
Thus, the Dutch Parliament called on the Dutch government to increase efforts in the European Union to impose sanctions on the President of Azerbaijan and his family, as well as a temporary ban on arms sales to Turkey. These motions should not be equated with the imposition of sanctions and embargoes, as they are of a calling nature at this stage.
“The Fact Check” concludes that Tigran Balayan's claim is a Manipulation of Facts.
P.S. On November 18, while Ilham Aliyev received the credentials of Dutch Ambassador Pauline Eizema, she said that sanctions against Azerbaijan were not on the agenda.
