Armenian foreign minister welcomes German parliament’s genocide bill

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
17 Jun 05

[Presenter] The German parliament has adopted a draft resolution
condemning the Armenian genocide. The document was unanimously adopted
without discussion and voting. The document notes that a number of
countries and international organizations and independent historians
have described the events of 1915 as genocide. The Bundestag’s
decision is tantamount to recognizing the Armenian genocide of 1915,
the Armenian ambassador to Germany, Garine Gazinyan, has said.

At the request of “Aylur”, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan,
who is attending a summit in Brussels, has commented on the draft
resolution condemning the Armenian genocide.

[Oskanyan from Brussels by telephone] This is an important step in
the sphere of recognizing the Armenian genocide. Although it does
not describe the 1915 events as genocide, I think this document is
a positive change for recognizing the Armenian genocide because the
German parliament used the term extermination of Armenians in this
document. The importance of this resolution is also that Germany
acknowledges its responsibility for the 1915 events and calls on
Turkey to answer for its history.