The German Parliament is to vote Thursday on whether to label the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago as genocide, a move that Turkey’s prime minister said would “test” the two countries’ relations at a sensitive time.
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In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stepped up pressure against the vote, calling it “absurd”, and warned of consequences for ties with Germany if the resolution were passed.
His comments followed those Tuesday from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who said if the bill passes it will damage future diplomatic, economic, commercial, political and military relations with Germany.
Turkey – the successor of the Ottoman Empire – agrees that many Armenians were mistreated at the time, but maintains that the number of victims has been grossly exaggerated and that there was no “genocide”.
Last year, German President Joachim Gauck condemned the killings of Armenians as genocide in a speech to mark the 100th anniversary of the massacres.
But Armenia’s President Serge Sarkissian urged German lawmakers to stand firm.
“It’s about rendering historical justice, it’s an obligation of the entire global community towards the memory of the victims of the genocide”, Armenian foreign ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan told AFP.
“It’s not fair that you can not call the genocide of the Armenians genocide just because the head of state of another country is angry about it”, Sarkisian concluded.
The Greens put it back on the agenda and the text is backed by the Christian Democrats (CDU) of chancellor Angela Merkel and the Social Democrats (SPD).
Germany’s parliament plans to hold a vote Thursday on a motion describing the deaths as genocide. Turkey strongly rejects the notion that the killings constituted genocide.
More than 20 nations, including France and Russian Federation, have recognised the Armenian genocide, but Germany has not.
Clinton explicitly said in “Hard Choices” that the aim of the protocols and other initiatives in the Caucasus was not necessarily to achieve peace but to advance short sighted USA corporate interests.
Merkel and other top ministers are expected to vote for the resolution, although some, including Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, have questioned the wisdom of it in public.
Merkel and her coalition government have recently faced widespread criticism from the media and opposition parties for their close cooperation with Turkey to address the refugee crisis.
Yerevan has long sought worldwide recognition of the “genocide”, but Ankara rejects the use of the term to describe the World War I-era killings and argues that it was a collective tragedy in which equal numbers of Turks and Armenians died.
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The migrants deal between the European Union and Turkey has eased political pressure on Merkel at home.
