Turkish PM confident of ties with Germany despite Bundestag ‘genocide’ vote

German vote acknowledging 1915 Armenian ‘genocide’ prompts Turkish reaction

3 June 2016, 1:16pm
by Staff Reporter / Jurgen Balzan

2 min read

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim is confident that relations with Germany will improve despite slamming Bundestag vote

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Turkey's prime minister condemned as a “historic error” Germany's vote to recognise the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide, but said it will not wreck the two countries' ties.

“No-one should expect that relations will suddenly deteriorate completely because of this decision,” Binali Yildirim said.

Turkey recalled its envoy to Germany in protest against the resolution passed by German MPs on Thursday and promised to take “necessary steps”.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people died in the atrocities committed by Ottoman Turks in 1915, during World War One.

In its defence, Turkey says the toll was much lower and rejects the term “genocide”.

More than 20 countries, including France and Russia, recognise the 1915 massacre as “genocide”, as do most non-Turkish scholars of the period.

The vote by Germany’s lower house, the Bundestag, heightened German-Turkish tensions at a time when Turkey's help was needed to control migrant arrivals.

The resolution - adopted overwhelmingly - used the word "genocide" in the headline and text. It also said Germany, at the time an ally of the Ottomans, was also somewhat guilty for doing nothing to stop the killings.

The condemnation by Turkish politicians was widespread, including a joint statement by the ruling AK Party and two opposition parties which spoke of “indignation in the Turkish nation”.

The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said the resolution would seriously affect relations with Germany, and that the government would consider further measures in response to the vote.

In a clear reference to Germany's Nazi past, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted: “The way to close the dark pages in your own history is not by besmirching the history of other countries with irresponsible and groundless parliamentary decisions.”

However, Mr Yildirim stressed that “Germany and Turkey are two very important allies”. An estimated three million people of Turkish origin live in Germany.