Armenian News... A Topalian... Christian minorities supported by German Bundestag!!!...
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The German Bundestag voted today to adopt a resolution on the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and junior coalition partner Social Democrats, along with the opposition Greens, prepared the resolution entitled “Remembrance and commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in 1915 and 1916”, which also carries the word throughout the text.
With the motion, the German Bundestag bows to the victims of forced displacement and massacre of the Armenians and other Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire, which began over a century ago. It deplores the deeds of the former Young Turk government, the almost complete emanation of the Armenians and other Christian groups (especially Aramaic / Assyrian and Chaldean Christians) in the Ottoman Empire
According to the resolution, the planned expulsion and extermination of more than a million Armenians by the Young Turk regime starting from April 24, 1915, is an example of mass killing, ethnic cleansing and, yes, genocide.”
The Bundestag also deplores the inglorious role of the German Reich, as military ally of the Ottoman Empire, and notes that despite the clear information also on the part of German diplomats and missionaries on organized expulsion and annihilation of Armenians, Germany did not try to stop this crime against humanity.
The commemoration of the German Bundestag is also an _expression_ of special respect for the most ancient Christian Nation on earth.
The Bundestag is committed to special historical responsibility of Germany to supporting the Turks and Armenians, seeking ways of reconciliation. According to the bill, “an honest appraisal of history is the most important basis for reconciliation.’
The German Bundestag calls on the Federal Government, in the spirit of the debate of the German Bundestag of 24 April 2015 100 th anniversary, to continue the a broad public discussion of the expulsion and almost complete annihilation of the Armenians in 1915-1916, to encourage the Turkish side to confront the past to create the necessary foundation for a reconciliation with the Armenian people.
Dozens Celebrate Bundestag’s Decision to Recognize Armenian Genocide
© REUTERS/ Hannibal Hanschke
EUROPE
02.06.2016(updated 14:39 02.06.2016)
Dozens of people gathered outside the German parliament in Berlin on
Thursday to celebrate the decision by German lawmakers to recognize
the Armenian genocide.
© FLICKR/ HERNÁN PIÑERA
German Parliament Recognizes Ottoman Crimes Against
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The resolution recognizing the 1915-1916 genocide
by the Ottoman Empire, now Turkey, was passed by a landslide vote with
only one lawmaker opposing.
Footage from a central square in front of the Bundestag showed people
dancing in a circle. The mob spotted flags of Armenia, Greece and YPG,
a Kurdish militia in Syria deemed terrorists by Ankara.
The vote is likely to strain relations between Germany and Turkey,
which rejects the labelling of World War I-era killings as genocide,
at the time of intensive EU-Ankara talks on how to curb the migrant
flow to Europe.
armraadio.am
02 Jun 2016
Siranush Ghazanchyan
Armenia welcomes the adoption of the resolution by the German
Bundestag on recognition of the Genocide committed against Armenians
and other Christian peoples.
“German President Joachim Gauck’s statement on the 100th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide, along with this Bundestag resolution, is a
valuable contribution not only to the process of international
recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide but also to the
fight for prevention of genocides and crimes against humanity,”
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in a statement.
“Germany and Austria, two former allies of the Ottoman Empire
acknowledge their share of responsibility in the perpetration of the
Armenian Genocide, while the Turkish authorities keep denying the
obvious fact of the genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire,”
Minister Nalbandian said.
“The international community has been waiting for Turkey to face its
history for 101 years,” the Foreign Minister said.
MPs vote to approve motion describing massacre of Armenians by Ottoman
forces a century ago as genocide
A banner reading ‘Nuremberg says: The Bundestag is not a tribunal’ is
held aloft during a protest in Berlin against the German parliament’s
vote on the Armenian genocide. Photograph: Paul Zinken/EPA
Philip Oltermann in Berlin and agencies
@philipoltermann
Thursday 2 June 2016 11.44 BSTLast modified on Thursday 2 June 201611.54 BST
German MPs have approved a motion describing the massacre of Armenians
by Ottoman forces a century ago as genocide – a decision that Turkey’s
prime minister said would “test” relations between the two countries
at a sensitive time.
The five-page resolution, co-written by parliamentarians from the
Christian Democrats, Social Democrats and Green party, calls for a
“commemoration of the genocide of Armenian and other Christian
minorities in the years 1915 and 1916”. It passed with support from
all the parties in parliament. In a show of hands, there was one
abstention and one vote against.
Turkish governments have always rejected the use of the term genocide
to describe the massacre and expulsion of an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians and members of Christian minorities in the Ottoman empire.
Speaking before the vote on Thursday, Turkey’s prime minister
described the ballot as “a real test of the friendship” between his
country and Germany. “Some nations that we consider friends, when they
are experiencing trouble in domestic policy, attempt to divert
attention from it,” Binali Yıldırım said at a meeting of his Justice
and Development party. “This resolution is an example of that.”
On Wednesday he had gone further, saying the ballot was “ridiculous”
and arguing that the killings were an “ordinary” wartime event.
Yıldırım repeated the warning from the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan, that bilateral ties would be damaged by Germany’s decision to
call the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a genocide.
“It’s a ridiculous vote,” Yıldırım said. “[This] was one of many
ordinary events that can happen in any country, in any society under
the conditions of world war one. We know that those who want Turkey to
pay the bill for it do not have good intentions.”
Yıldırım moved to allay fears that the EU refugee deal with Turkey,
championed by Angela Merkel, would be put under further strain by the
vote, saying: “We are loyal to the agreements we have made. The EU
should stand by its word in the same way. We are not a tribal state,
we are the Turkish republic, a country with a deeply rooted
tradition.”
The agreement to return migrants arriving on the Greek islands to
Turkey has in recent months reduced the number of refugees arriving in
central Europe, easing pressure on Merkel, the German chancellor. But
Erdoğan has since repeatedly questioned the conditions of the deal,
with members of his party threatening to cancel the agreement
altogether.
Opening Thursday’s debate, Germany parliament speaker Norbert Lammert
acknowledged that addressing historical events can be painful.
“But we have also seen that an honest and self-critical appraisal of
the past does not endanger relations with other countries,” he said.
“In fact, it is a precondition for understanding, reconciliation and
cooperation.”
He said Turkey’s current government is not responsible for what
happened 100 years ago, “but it shares responsibility for what happens
with it in the future”.
Some historians argue that Germany, a close ally of the Ottoman empire
during the first world war, was aware of the massacre at the time and
supported it politically. The Bundestag’s resolution contains a
passage acknowledging “the German Reich’s complicity in the events”,
as well as six references to the Holocaust.
Twenty governments, including those of France, Italy and Russia, have
in the past described the mass killings of Armenians as a genocide,
and Pope Francis referred to the killings as “the first genocide of
the 20th century” in 2015. The German president, Joachim Gauck, also
used the phrase in a speech in April last year.
Thursday’s vote was originally scheduled for last year, but was put on
ice due to pressure from Germany’s governing coalition, reportedly for
fear of destabilising Turkish-German relations. A revised draft of the
resolution was brought back to the Bundestag largely due to the
efforts of the Green party’s Turkish-German co-chair Cem Özdemir.
Merkel was not in the Bundestag for the vote because of other
commitments, including a meeting with the Nato secretary general, Jens
Stoltenberg.
Deutsche Welle, Germany
June 2 2016
Germany votes on Armenian genocide resolution amid warnings from Turkey
German lawmakers are due to pass a resolution that would see the mass
deaths of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 referred to as
"genocide." Turkey has warned Berlin of consequences if it passes the
resolution.
Thursday's vote in the Bundestag - Germany's lower house of parliament
- comes at a time when German Chancellor Angela Merkel is relying on
Turkey to implement a migrant deal with the EU. Germany also has
extensive ties with Turkey, including 3 million residents of Turkish
origin, dating back to a "guest worker" scheme in the 1960s and 70s.
As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey officially denies
that the events that started in 1915 amounted to genocide and has
lashed out at countries that have officially recognized the term.
When France formally called the displacements and killings genocide in
2011, Turkey temporarily recalled its ambassador; it did the same
thing to Austria last year. Keen to avoid irking a key ally, the US
has so far has avoided using the term, although more than 40 US state
legislatures have passed genocide resolutions.
Turkey's official line is that ethnic Armenians represented a fifth
column backed by Russia during World War I, and that the mass
deportation and accompanying Armenian deaths were not premeditated or
intentional - a key requirement in the legal definition of genocide.
Warning from Ankara
Ahead of the vote, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned
Germany against changing the terminology used to refer to the Armenian
massacre. Before heading on a trip to Africa on Tuesday, Erdogan told
reporters the resolution's passage would "naturally damage future
diplomatic, economic, business, political and military relations
between the two countries - and we are both also NATO countries."
Reiterating Erdogan's stance on Wednesday, Prime Minister Binali
Yildirim described Thursday's pending Bundestag motion as "absurd."
"History should be left to historians," Yildirim told journalists in Ankara.
Armenia's president, Serzh Sargsyan, told German daily "Bild,"
however, that he was sure German lawmakers would adopt the wording.
"I am sure: the politicians in the Bundestag see it the same way and
will not allow themselves to be intimidated," Sargsyan said.
The resolution, submitted by the Greens, is entitled "Remembrance and
commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and other Christian
minorities in 1915 and 1916" and carries the contested word throughout
the text.
Postponed vote
On April 24, 2015 - on the 100th anniversary of what Armenians call
the Great Crime - the Bundestag postponed voting on a similar
resolution to classify the mass killings as "genocide." German
President Joachim Gauck used the term, however, drawing criticism from
Turkey.
At the time, the governing coalition opted not to vote on the
resolution, but the Greens led by Cem Ozdemir, an ethnic Turk, forced
a vote this year.
Officials in Turkey put the number of Armenians who died at around
500,000, while Armenia puts the number at about 1.5 million - out of a
pre-war population of some 2 million.
Turkish officials also point out that hundreds of thousands of Muslims
died from combat, starvation, cold and disease in eastern Anatolia
during the war. Armenians have documented systematic mass murder,
organized banditry, raping of women, pillaging of property and other
atrocities.
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