The Turkish government called on the Dutch charge d‘affaires in Ankara on Saturday to express its anger at two bills proposed by the Christian Union party, the first of which would formally classify the events of 1915, when 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire, as a genocide. The second bill would call on a Dutch official to be present during the annual remembrance day in Armenia on April 24. At present, 23 countries, including Russia, recognize the 1915 killings as a genocide. The Turkish authorities, however, dispute the Armenian version of events, arguing that there were atrocities on both sides, and bitterly contest all charges of genocide.