Germany stands ready to support Turkey and Armenia to establish relations
24.05.2016,
16:37
Germany stands ready to provide support to the peoples of Turkey and Armenia to establish relations, Vice President of the Bundestag Edelgard Bulmahn said today in Yerevan.
YEREVAN, May 24. /ARKA/. Germany stands ready to provide support to the peoples of Turkey and Armenia to establish relations, Vice President of the Bundestag Edelgard Bulmahn said today in Yerevan.
Speaking to local reporters she said given the dark pages of its history Germany wants to take responsibility and help the Armenian and Turkish peoples find verges of contact and reconcile with their own history.
According to her, it is a difficult, but a possible political path that Armenia and Turkey may go to resume the dialogue and relations.
According to deputy speaker of Armenian parliament Eduard Sharmazanov, Armenia hopes that the German Bundestag would adopt a resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in Ottoman Empire. Consideration of the resolution is slated for June 2.
According to Sharmazanov, today the denial of the Armenian Genocide is tantamount to a crime of genocide.
"We hope that our German colleagues will carry out the great mission of recognizing the Armenian Genocide and the genocides of other Christian peoples who lived in Turkey", he said.
In turn Edelgard Bulmahn stated that the resolution presented to the Bundestag condemns in the first place the violence against Armenians and other Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire. In her opinion, it is important to keep the memory of the victims of genocide.
"We also condemn the notorious role played by Germany, as the principal ally of Turkey, for not preventing that crime," she said.
She said a string of documents published by the German government in 1998 confirm that at the time Germany was well aware of what was happening in the Ottoman Empire. She said the draft resolution also mentions the involvement of Germany in the Armenian Genocide and that it assumes the historical responsibility.
Armenia and dozens of other countries refer to the deaths as genocide. Some 1.5 million Armenians were estimated to have been killed during the Armenian Genocide in 1915. As the successor to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey acknowledges some of the killings, but vehemently denies that it constitutes a genocide.-0-
Speaking to local reporters she said given the dark pages of its history Germany wants to take responsibility and help the Armenian and Turkish peoples find verges of contact and reconcile with their own history.
According to her, it is a difficult, but a possible political path that Armenia and Turkey may go to resume the dialogue and relations.
According to deputy speaker of Armenian parliament Eduard Sharmazanov, Armenia hopes that the German Bundestag would adopt a resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in Ottoman Empire. Consideration of the resolution is slated for June 2.
According to Sharmazanov, today the denial of the Armenian Genocide is tantamount to a crime of genocide.
"We hope that our German colleagues will carry out the great mission of recognizing the Armenian Genocide and the genocides of other Christian peoples who lived in Turkey", he said.
In turn Edelgard Bulmahn stated that the resolution presented to the Bundestag condemns in the first place the violence against Armenians and other Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire. In her opinion, it is important to keep the memory of the victims of genocide.
"We also condemn the notorious role played by Germany, as the principal ally of Turkey, for not preventing that crime," she said.
She said a string of documents published by the German government in 1998 confirm that at the time Germany was well aware of what was happening in the Ottoman Empire. She said the draft resolution also mentions the involvement of Germany in the Armenian Genocide and that it assumes the historical responsibility.
Armenia and dozens of other countries refer to the deaths as genocide. Some 1.5 million Armenians were estimated to have been killed during the Armenian Genocide in 1915. As the successor to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey acknowledges some of the killings, but vehemently denies that it constitutes a genocide.-0-
