Expert: Israeli Knesset vote on Armenian Genocide recognition cancelled after Erdogan’s win

An Israeli parliamentary vote scheduled for Tuesday on recognizing the Armenian Genocide has been pulled out of the agenda after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the coalition led by him won Turkey's elections held on Sunday, an Armenian expert on Arabic studies said today.

According to Armen Petrosyan, the move, which reportedly came after the government opposition still voiced its opposition to the initiative on Monday, was ‘expected’.

In a post on Facebook, he explains that Tamar Zandberg of the left-wing opposition Meretz party who had penned the Armenian Genocide bill decided to withdraw it since it lacked support from the government coalition.

The expert said Zandberg's party promised to submit its own ‘alternative’ bill on the issue, avoiding the term ‘genocide’ and calling the murder of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915-1923 a ‘tragedy’.

“To note, earlier on June 11, the Knesset postponed a debate on recognizing the Armenian Genocide at the request of the Israeli Foreign Ministry claiming ‘it would benefit Erdogan in the elections’, whereas the actual reason [behind the decision] pursuing the opposite goal ‘came to light’,” Petrosyan wrote.

“It is out of doubt that the ‘secret flirt’ between Israel and Turkey will take a new turn against the backdrop of crucial developments expected in the region,” he added.