STEINMEIER AVOIDS LABEL FOR MASSACRES OF ARMENIANS
Europe Online Magazine
April 18 2015
Europe
17.04.2015
Tallinn/Berlin (dpa) – German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier
on Friday refused to label as genocide the massacres of Armenians in
the final years of the Ottoman Empire.
“Past atrocities cannot be reduced to a single word or to the dispute
over a word,” Steinmeier said during a visit to the Estonian capital
Tallinn.
Controversy over the issue has risen sharply as Armenians worldwide are
getting ready to commemorate the 100th anniversary next week of what
they call the systematic extermination of their people by the Ottomans.
Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, vehemently objects
to the term genocide. The Turkish government last week accused European
Parliament members of showing “religious and cultural fanaticism”
by passing a resolution that urges Ankara to recognize the death of
as many as 1.5 million Armenians as genocide.
Steinmeier pointed out that discussions are ongoing on a declaration
that the German parliament plans to issue on April 24, the official
commemoration day.
A draft of the declaration, seen by dpa, does not contain the term
genocide. Instead, it says that the “annihilation of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire during World War I was the biggest and most momentous
catastrophe in the history of the Armenian people.”
The draft declaration calls upon Turkey to “no longer deny the facts.”
Prominent lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat
party have criticised the government for bowing to Turkey’s interests.
The Bundestag plans to finalize the draft during committee hearings
scheduled for February 24.
From: A. Papazian