Located in the Henri Michaux square in Ixelles, the memorial to victims of the Armenian Genocide was vandalised on Monday.
The incident was reported by the Committee of the Armenians in Belgium on Tuesday, with an investigation now underway, confirmed Brussels-Ixelles Police Spokesperson, Ilse Van de keere.
The monument was defaced with an insult which appears to be "F*** Paylan" – an Armenian member of the Turkish parliament – and three crescent moons, most likely a reference to the Turkish flag.
A statement from the Committee of the Armenians called out the act of political vandalism and made an appeal for public condemnation: "In the name of living together and the fight against all forms of racism, the Committee calls on public figures and associations to recognise this as an incitement to hatred."
"In particular, we call on the associations of communities of Turkish origin to condemn this act."
Atrocity, denial and reconciliation
24 April commemorates the atrocities committed by the Ottoman Empire against one million ethnic Armenians in 1915. Turkey has never recognised the genocide, often promoting a strong denial of the atrocities. Ankara has accepted there were mass killings of Armenians, but rejects the term ‘genocide’.
Turkey has seen a resurgence in nationalism under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and authorities have increased censorship on the issue.
Turkey has also spent millions lobbying against international recognition of the genocide, having also resorted to intimidation and threats, which was raised in the European Parliament in 2020.
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On Sunday, the day of the memorial, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu controversially flashed the nationalist ‘grey wolf’ sign to the Armenian diaspora on a diplomatic visit to Uruguay.
Despite ongoing diplomatic tensions, foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey met in March of this year for the first time since 2009 in a bid to ease relations between the two countries.
US President Joe Biden officially recognised the Armenian genocide for the second year in a row in a written public statement on 24 April.
