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The German parliament was practically unanimous in its recognition of the 1915 killings of more than 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide. On Thursday, the German parliament overwhelmingly voted to support the motion put forward by the governing coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the opposition Green Party. This symbolic resolution on the part of Germany to label the killings of ethnic Armenians as genocide has triggered an angry reaction from Turkey and escalated tensions at a diplomatic level.
Turkey’s official stance on the matter is that though many Armenians lost their lives in the ethnic fighting and deportation process during the World War I, it was not a systematically orchestrated or deliberate killing process. Turkey claims there were 300,000 casualties. Armenia says 1.5 million people died during the genocide.
Germany has joined a growing list of countries that recognize the Armenian killings as genocide. This list includes Russia, Canada, Argentina, and France.
Reaction of Turkey on German vote
Turkey reacted angrily to the German parliament’s decision and recalled its ambassador to Germany for consultations. Addressing a news conference in Kenya shortly after the German vote, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “The resolution adopted by the German parliament will seriously impact relations between Germany and Turkey.” He added that the recall was the first step and the Turkish government would contemplate a further action in response to the German parliament’s vote. The Turkish President was on a visit to Kenya during the German vote.
According to officials, Turkey summoned a top German diplomat to the foreign ministry in Ankara soon after the vote. As a precautionary measure against protests, armed riot police were deployed outside the German consulate in Istanbul.
Reacting on the issue, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the German vote was a mistake. Turkish government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey would communicate this to Berlin in various forms.
The vote has landed Germany in a delicate political juncture as Ankara plays a major role in assisting the European Union to decrease the number of migrants arriving. Berlin stands to draw major benefit from this deal.
Sensitive issue for Turkish nationals
The genocide controversy continues to be a prominent and sensitive issue for Turkish nationals. According to Turkey’s Cumhuriyet newspaper’s political columnist -Semih Idiz, with more than 20 countries now acknowledging the Armenian genocide, Ankara finds itself gradually isolated. He says political leadership of Turkey is trapped and brooding over its difficult past. He adds that the taboos related to the genocide issue are being discussed in the Turkish society. It now remains to be seen how Turkey deals with the issue in the face of the German vote.
