The government will send a minister to the commemoration of the Armenian genocide in Yerevan, in line with parliament’s wishes but this does not mean that the government recognises the genocide as such, foreign affairs minister Sigrid Kaag said on Thursday.

‘By attending the commemoration we are showing our respect for the terrible events done to minorities, in the same way that the government attends the commemoration of the Dutch slavery history,’ Kaag said during a debate.

The government still has to decide which minister will attend the commemoration, she said.

Parliament on Thursday voted almost unanimously in favour or recognising the killing of 1.5 million Armenians in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Only Denk voted against the motion.

The Dutch government officially refers to the killings as ‘the question of the Armenian genocide’, rather than outright as genocide.