Seibert has been chosen as an appropriate second-tier figure after domestic debates on who would make the controversial statement on behalf of the government.
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He said there could be no talking of Germany distancing itself from the parliamentary resolution.
Germany’s parliamentary vote declaring the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a genocide is not legally binding, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday, a move that may signal at attempt to mend frayed ties with Turkey.
In June, the Bundeswehr, Germany’s military, was seeking an alternative airbase in Cyprus or Jordan, while Social Democrats, the junior members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government, demanded the jets and troops to be withdrawn by the end of the year. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the vote, recalled his ambassador to Berlin for consultations and threatened further action.
The German magazine Spiegel revealed that the spokesman is likely to stress that the resolution has no binding effect on the government and is nothing more than a declaration without any legal power.
“The German Bundestag naturally has every right and the freedom to express itself on political issues”, Steinmeier said.
“Der Spiegel” reported that a deal had been agreed between the German Foreign Office and Merkel’s Chancellery that would see the government directly distance itself from the Armenia resolution.
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“There is no truth in this”, Seibert said.
