Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany
Friday 5:20 PM EST
Merkel dances around the term 'genocide' at memorial in Armenia
Yerevan
DPA POLITICS Armenia diplomacy Germany Merkel dances around
the term 'genocide' at memorial in Armenia Yerevan
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday paid her
respects at a memorial to those killed in the Armenian genocide
without using the term "genocide" – a point of tension with Turkey.
She planted a tree at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial in the Armenian
capital, Yerevan, "in the spirit of the 2016 resolution of the
Bundestag."
Although the German government's resolution was not a legal one, the
decision caused massive protests in Turkey, which strongly rejects
terming the the mass killing of Armenians during World War I at the
hands of the Ottoman Empire a genocide.
Merkel was in Armenia on Friday as part of a three-day tour of the
region that started Thursday in Georgia and ends in Azerbaijan.
During her visit to Yerevan, she also underscored her support for
closer cooperation on migration with Armenia, saying Berlin would
consider liberalizing visa requirements depending on how the country
makes progress on the question of asylum and the migration question.
"The prospect is there, but we still have a ways to go," she said.
Armenia's new prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, said at a joint press
conference with Merkel that emigration could be stopped as the nation
becomes more democratic, and that Armenians would return to the
homeland.
Merkel also voiced support for a political solution to the conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.