German Parliament Acknowledges Armenian Genocide

The German Bundestag adopted the Armenian Genocide recognition resolution, which is entitled “Remembrance and commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in 1915 and 1916”. Only one MP voted against the adoption, and one abstained.

Speakers were unanimously stressing the need of facing the past, also for contributing the reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey. The Bundestag voiced the crime of the Ottoman Turkey, and stressed this step is neither an accusation nor a claim, but a tribute to the memory of the victims.

“Facing the past can be painful for us, however in the same time it can be an honest and self-critical approach towards our own past. It is important in the context of building relations with other states, which needs courage, for achieving mutual understanding and reconciliation”, Bundestag President N. Lammert said.