Germany’s Bundestag overwhelmingly adopted a symbolic resolution declaring the massacres of Armenians and other Christian minorities in Anatolia a “genocide”, further escalating tensions with the Turkish government.
As expected, Turkey responded angrily with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan summoning the Turkish ambassador in Germany back to Ankara for consultations.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, turned to Twitter to denounce the vote, writing in Turkish, “The way to close the dark pages of your own history is not by defaming the histories of other countries with irresponsible and baseless decisions.”
Kendi tarihindeki karanlık sayfaları kapatmanın yolu sorumsuz ve mesnetsiz Meclis kararlarıyla başka ülkelerin tarihini karalamak değildir.
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) June 2, 2016
Ironically, a German parliamentarian of Turkish origin, Cem Ozdemir, spearheaded the proposal through the German parliament.
The vote in the German Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament, was nearly unanimous, with one lawmaker voting against and another abstaining.
