It says that ethnic clashes led to the deaths, which it argues were significantly below 1.5 million. French President Francois Hollande was among foreign leaders who attended in April 2015 official ceremonies in Yerevan marking the centenary of the Armenian genocide.
Advertisement
The use of the word “genocide” goes to the heart of a long-running battle for world opinion between Armenia and Turkey over the massacres committed a century ago. Turkey’s Ambassador to Germany has been recalled to his homeland as the Turkish government figures out how to formally respond to the Bundestag’s decision.
“But I don’t think that Turkey will take steps in that direction”, he said, explaining that Turkey conditions normalization of relations with Armenia by the Karabakh issue.
The Prime Minister of Turkey Binali Yildirim, added his take, saying, “There is no shameful incident in our past that would make us bow our heads”.
“But we have also seen that an honest and self-critical appraisal of the past does not endanger relations with other countries”, he said. As a result, the parliament’s resolution has been hailed by some historians as acknowledgment of Germany’s indirect role. In the parliamentary session this week, speaker Norbert Lammert noted that addressing historical wrongs can be painful, as Germans know due to “our own chapters of dark history”. But I want to draw attention to one point: “The fact that only around 250 lawmakers out of 650 present at the voting indicates that the majority of the German parliament could not embrace this move”.
Germany’s valuable contribution not only to the worldwide recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, but also to the universal fight for the prevention of genocides, crimes against humanity. Armenian activists continue to lobby other states to follow suit. In a statement released during the anniversary past year, the Department of Foreign Affairs noted the “terrible events which resulted in the tragic deaths of very large numbers of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire” but did not refer to them as genocide, instead urging Armenia and Turkey to pursue reconciliation. Turkey is a crucial North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally in the upheavals of the Middle East, and especially important to Germany and the European Union as they try to stem the flow of Syrian refugees.
Advertisement
The damage done to Turkey’s relations with the Armenians and its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies is the responsibility of that large majority of Turks who refuse to acknowledge a dark blot on their history, not those who seek to commemorate the tragedy. “The question is, as Germany, who has been steadfast in support of Turkey, is going through this kind of strain, will things get worse or get better?” Ankara is also counting on Berlin’s support for the full implementation of the recent controversial deal on migration that promised visa-free travel within the European Union for Turkish nationals in exchange for Turkey absorbing migrants forcibly returned from Greece.
