EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO CALL ARMENIAN MASSACRE ‘GENOCIDE’

Deutsche Welle, Germany
April 16 2015

The European Parliament has approved a resolution “to recognize the
Armenian genocide” a century ago by Ottoman Turkish forces. Turkey
has dismissed the resolution, which commends recent comments by
Pope Francis.

The European Parliament approved a motion on Wednesday that
commemorates the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World
War I in 1915, labeling it a “genocide.”

The non-binding resolution passed by a large majority with a show
of hands.

Before the vote, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he
would ignore the result, and that “it would go in one ear and out
the other.” Turkey is strongly opposed to qualifying the deaths as
genocide, saying that hundreds of thousands of both Turks and Christian
Armenians lost their lives in the struggle between the Ottoman forces
and the Russian Empire over eastern Anatolia during World War I.

Nonetheless, the resolution welcomed remarks by Erdogan and others
“offering condolances and recognizing atrocities against the Ottoman
Armenians.” It urges Ankara to go further and “recognize the Armenian
Genocide and thus to pave the way for a genuine reconciliation between
the Turkish and Armenian peoples.”

The resolution repeats language used in 1987, when the European
Parliament defined the killings as a “genocide.”

It comes days after the use of the term by Pope Francis sparked fury in
Ankara, with the Turkish government summoning the Vatican ambassador
in Istanbul. Wednesday’s resolution in Brussels defends the pope,
commending his weekend message.

During the debate in Brussels, conservative German MEP Elmar Brok
said there was a “moral obligation” to recognize and commemorate
such massacres.

“My own people committed genocides,” Brok said.

The German parliament is also set to discuss the issue later this
month.