German parliament marks Turkish massacre of Armenians
Agence France Presse — English
June 16, 2005 Thursday 1:47 PM GMT
BERLIN June 16 — The German parliament passed a resolution Thursday
in memory of the massacre of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th
century but stopped short of condemning it as genocide.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million of its people were slaughtered between
1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of modern Turkey,
was crumbling.
Turkey counters that 300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks were
killed in “civil strife” during World War I when the Armenians rose
up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.
The issue has taken on increased importance as Turkey prepares to
start accession talks with the EU in October.
The resolution passed by the Bundestag lower house calls on the German
government “to help Turks and Armenians resolve differences between
them by reviewing, reconciling and forgiving historical guilt”.
Turkey reacted angrily to the move, summoning a diplomat at the German
embassy in Ankara to the foreign ministry.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul called the resolution “offensive”
to Turkey and the some 2.5 million Turks living in Germany.
The French parliament adopted a controversial law in 2001 which
states that “France publicly recognizes the Armenian genocide.”
France has a large Armenian population.