Civilnet
German President Joachim Gauck
Ahead of a debate in the German Bundestag on April 24 about the Armenian Genocide, President Joachim Gauck said that the mass killings of the Armenians by Ottoman Turkey was genocide.
The German President said this during a non-denominational church service commemorating the centennial of the Armenian Genocide in Berlin on April 23.
"In this case we Germans must come to terms with the past regarding our shared responsibility, possibly shared guilt, for the genocide against the Armenians," he said at the ecumenical service according to AFP.
According to Reuters, the German government has backpedaled from its historic refusal to use the term genocide when referring to the slaughter of the Armenian nation by Ottoman Turkey.
“In a major reversal in Turkey’s top trading partner in the European Union and home to millions of Turks, Germany joins other nations and institutions including France, the European parliament and Pope Francis in using the term condemned by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan,” reported Reuters.
Business Standard writes that a draft of a non-binding motion that will be debated in the Bundestag scheduled for April 24, states that the fate of the Armenians “is exemplary for the history of mass destruction, ethnic cleansing, expulsions and genocides by which the 20th century is marked in such a terrible way.”
Steffen Seibert, the spokesperson of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the government would support the resolution, backing away from its previous position of refusing to use the word genocide. Reuters notes that the coalition government came under pressure from parliamentarians within their own ranks to use the word in the resolution.
“The government backs the draft resolution…in which the fate of the Armenians during World War One serves as an example of the history of mass murders, ethnic cleansing, expulsions and, yes, the genocides during the 20th century,” Seibert said.
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