BUNDESTAG’S DECISION MARKS A U-TURN
AZG Armenian Daily #111, 17/06/2005
Armenian Genocide
Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian is answering the question
of Armenpress about the decision of Bundestag on Armenian Genocide.
– Mr. minister, The German Federal Parliament has just adopted a draft
actually recognizing the Armenian Genocide. What’s your evaluation
of this event?
– Armenia’s evaluation of Bundestag’s draft is positive. It’s
an important step on the way of the Genocide’s international
recognition. Though lacking the word “genocide”, as Bundestag did not
feel authorized to give definition to the events of 1915, the term
“genocide” appears in the describing part.
In view of the fact that Germany has been avoiding to talk about the
issue, preferring to keep silent or deny it, Bundestag’s decision
marks a U-turn. Especially when Germany accepts its complicity to
the tragic events of 1915 and calls on Turkey to put up with its past.
This decision comes as an important step for putting the Armenian
issues on the agenda of Turkey-EU talks launching this fall.