With an almost unanimous vote, the German Bundestag, passed a symbolic resolution which recognizes the 1915 massacre of the Armenian population by the Ottoman Turkish army as a “genocide”
The Armenian Foreign Minister, E.Nalbandian, welcomed the resolution since it demonstrated: . “Germany's valuable contribution not only to the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, but also to the universal fight for the prevention of genocides [and] crimes against humanity,” (APF)
The Turkish government, as well as the sizeable German/Turkish citizens have attempted to apply significant pressure in order to stop the vote from passing.
After the voting, the Turkish president, Tayyip Erdogan stated that the decision of the Bundestag would indeed have a serious impact on the relations between the two countries.
The Turkish government recalled its ambassador to Turkey, Huseyin Avni Karsioglu, while Erdogan stated that once the ambassador has returned to Turkey, the government will discuss and decide on any further steps to be taken in response.
The Turkish reactions, however have not gone beyond what German officials already expected.
A.Merkel stated that: “There is a lot that binds Germany to Turkey and even if we have a difference of opinion on an individual matter, the breadth of our links, our friendship, our strategic ties, is great,” (Reuters)
Before the vote, the new Turkish Prime minister, Binali Yildirim, noted that “Our relations with Germany and the European Union are at a very good level. Particularly in recent times we have made significant progress on the issues of visa liberalization, the readmission agreement and preventing illegal migration. Turkey is not a country that blackmails, utters threats and develops plans,”