German Bundestag Passes Resolution Calling Ottoman-Era Armenian Killings ′Genocide′
Germany’s Bundestag passed a resolution qualifying the Ottoman era Armenian killings as ‘genocide’. The lower house of parliament voted almost unanimously, with one vote against the motion and one abstention. House speaker Norbert Lammert spoke of a “remarkable majority.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the leader of the Social Democrats, Sigmar Gabriel, failed to attend the vote on account of other appointments. Critics have said, however, that they deliberately attempted to dodge a difficult vote.
Diplomatic row
Recently elected Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim blamed “the racist Armenian lobby” for the passing of the resolution and announced that he has called Turkey’s Berlin ambassador Hüsein Avni Karslioglu to report in Ankara in response to the vote in the Bundestag.
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