In one last bid on Thursday to try and sway German opinion, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said it would be “irrational” for the German parliament to approve such a resolution, while it would test the friendship between the two countries.
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Turkey has slammed a German parliamentary resolution passed on Thursday that recognises Ottoman-era killings of Armenians as genocide.
There was nearly unanimous support on Thursday 2 June for the resolution by MPs from the Christian Democrats, the Greens and the Social Democrats calling for a “commemoration of the genocide of Armenian and other Christian minorities in the years 1915 and 1916”.
The Turkish government has long rejected the term genocide, saying that thousands of people, many of them Turks, died in the civil war that destroyed the Ottoman Empire.
Ambassador Huseyin Avni Karslioglu is expected to travel back to Turkey on Thursday, after the German Parliament declared the 1915-16 killings of some 1.5 million Armenians a deliberate act of ethnic cleansing.
While strengthening the propaganda of “genocide” in the world, Armenians achieved its recognition by parliaments of some countries.
“This is not a decision that should be made by politicians or parliaments; it is a decision that has to be made by historians”.
The measure includes a German expression of regret that its World War I imperial government did nothing to stop the Armenian bloodshed at the hands of its Ottoman allies, despite receiving information about the events.
In a rare show of unity, three of Turkey’s political parties, including the ruling AK, issued a statement condemning the vote. When other countries have called the killings genocide it has led to diplomatic strife with Turkey, but not lasting damage.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the resolution would seriously affect relations with Germany, and the government would consider further measures in response to the vote.
The Turks have already recalled their ambassador to Germany.
The vote heightened tensions between Germany and Turkey at a time when Ankara is playing a key role in stemming the flow of migrants to Europe. He said a European “blind spot” could explain the vehemence of the Turkish reaction to the accusation of genocide.
More than 20 nations, including France and Russian Federation, as well as Pope Francis, have recognised the 1915 killings as genocide. Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian behavior is also causing concern in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
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Armenia insists on the recognition of the genocide by the global community. In return for supporting the migrants deal, Ankara wants the process accelerated but Brussels insists it needs to improve its human rights record.
