BUNDESTAG’S FINAL DEBATE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION ON APRIL 30

13:53, 24 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The German Bundestag held a debate on the Armenian Genocide this
morning. Representatives of different parties represented in the
parliament offered speeches.

Bundestag President Norbert Lammert opened the debate to mark the
centenary of the killings by himself directly referring to the mass
killings as genocide.

“What happened before the eyes of the world in the Ottoman Empire
during the First World War was a genocide,” said Lammert.

The Bundestag president called on the present Turkish government
to accept responsibility for what had resulted from the genocide,
while stressing that it was not directly responsible.

Lammert also referred to the role of Germany – a World War One ally
of the Ottoman Empire – whose troops were said to have been involved
in planning and even implementing deportations.

The Foreign Relations Committee of the Bundestag is expected to hold
a final debate on the resolution on April 30.

German President Joachim Gauck used the word ‘genocide’ at an
ecumenical ceremony in Berlin on Thursday evening, ahead of the
official centenary commemoration of the killings.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress