Germany rejects Turkish objections to Armenia resolution

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
June 17, 2005, Friday

Berlin

In a widening rift with Turkey, the German government Friday rejected
Turkish objections to a resolution adopted by the German parliament
this week condemning the massacre of up to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire 90 years ago.

Responding to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
denunciation of the resolution as “a hideous action”, German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder issued a statement defending the resolution.

“The chancellor has consistently made his stand on the issue,”
said Schroeder’s deputy spokesman Thomas Steg. “We therefore cannot
understand (Turkey’s) surprise at this resolution.”

The resolution, adopted by an overwhelming majority of the Bundestag
lower house of the German parliament, criticised the current government
of Turkey for “neglecting to address the issue” in a forthright manner.

The Turkish government called the resolution as “irresponsible,
appalling and injurious” to relations between the two countries.
Germany’s two million Turkish immigrants make up the largest ethnic
group in this country, and Turkish leaders in Germany have called
the resolution “discriminatory” against Turks living here.

Turkey acknowledges the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of deaths in
“civil strife” during 1915-17 but denies there was a state- sponsored
extermination plan – a stance that has complicated its efforts to join
the European Union. Accession talks are due to start later this year.

On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Turkish government arrested hundreds
of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders, most of whom were
quickly executed.

This was followed by the mass relocation of Christian Armenians from
Anatolia through desert to Mesopotamia and what is today Syria.

Starvation, disease, attacks by bandits and the brutality of the
escorting troops resulted in mass fatalities. Most Western sources
maintain that more than a million deaths took place.

The incident has been widely referred to as the first genocide of
the 20th Century.

Turkey said Thursday’s resolution is not historically correct, saying
claims that “almost all Armenians living in Anatolia were exterminated”
have “no basis”. dpa eg sc