Head of the Armenian National Committee of Germany Anto Aznavurian says all political factions of the German Bundestag support the adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution. “This time should not be the same as in the previous case. This time they all should say that genocide took place. Moreover, they should speak about the criminal role of Germany in the genocide, as well as they should raise the issue of opening the Armenian-Turkish borders.
The political forces gave such promises and now we see that they take steps towards that path”, he stated. He said the deterioration of relations with Turkey over the refugee issue created favorable conditions. “The public has such a perception that German Government will do everything for Turks over the refugee issue. This phenomenon is so humiliating that people started not to elect that famous parties, which in its turn created concern among the political circles”, he said stating that Turkey, whether it wants or not, indirectly contributes to this process.
Aznavurian said Turkey puts strong pressures in terms of various threatening statements. The Turkish side states the adoption of the resolution will worsen the German-Turkish relations. He informed that the Turkish organizations hold various protests in Germany. “There are many protests, however, we are used to it. People are fed up with the Turkish intervention. So, I think, now it is a very appropriate moment for the resolution. If the resolution will be adopted, it means that Germany will officially recognize the 1915 events as genocide. The adoption of the resolution is very important for Armenia from the psychological point of view. Eventually, it will be confirmed that Turkey is a criminal”, he highlighted. Discussions over the Armenian Genocide draft resolution will be held in the German Bundestag, on June 2 at 11:10 local time.
The discussions will be broadcast vie net: www.bundestag.de In 2005, Germany’s parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian massacres, deportations and ethnic cleanings. However, in the Bundestag’s decision, the term Armenian Genocide was avoided, and instead “massacres of Armenians” was used. On April 24, before the Bundestag hearings, Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced that he supports those MPs, who are in favor of calling the mass killings of Armenians “Genocide”.
On April 23, during the ceremony in the Berlin Cathedral dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide, German President Joachim Gauck used the term “Genocide” in his speech. In March of 2015, the President of the German Parliament Norbert Lammert said: “what happened in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War in front of the whole world, was genocide. And it was not the last genocide of the 20th century”.
During the session the leaders of various party fractions also came with their pro-Armenian statements admitting what had happened. However, the discussion of the resolution indefinitely postponed. The heated discussion of the Armenian Genocide on February 25 at Bundestag did not terminate with voting in 2016