News / Germany

Genocide row: Germany calls in Turkish envoy

Tuesday, 07 June 2016 5:53 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 08 June 2016 6:17 PM ]

Lawmakers vote to recognize the Armenian genocide during a meeting of the lower house of the German parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, June 2, 2016. ©AP

Germany's Foreign Ministry has called in the Turkish chargé d'affaires over the reaction by Ankara to the German parliament's recognition of the Armenian "genocide" at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I.

With the Turkish ambassador having been recently recalled to Ankara, the Turkish envoy "was invited to the foreign ministry for a talk about the events of recent days and the reactions to the Armenian resolution in the Bundestag (the German parliament),” a German Foreign Ministry source said on Tuesday.

The development came less than a week after the lower house of the German legislature, Bundestag, voted to recognize the killings by the Ottoman Empire of the Armenians a century ago as “genocide.” The motion is symbolically significant and has no legal effect.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan branded as terrorists the 11 German MPs of Turkish origin, who backed the legislature's resolution, saying they should take "blood tests" to see "what kind of Turks they are."

In response on Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed as "incomprehensible" accusations levied by Turkey against the MPs, saying, "The lawmakers in Germany's lower house of parliament are freely elected without exception.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures during a press conference with the President of Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev (unseen) following their meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, June 7, 2016. ©AFP

Meanwhile, many German lawmakers say they have received hate mails and death threats after voting in favor of the motion.

Elsewhere in his comments, the German Foreign Ministry source said Tuesday’s discussion with the Turkish chargé d'affaires “made clear that the most recent statements made to German MPs are at odds with this and were met with incomprehension.”

Armenia says up to 1.5 million of its nationals were killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, but Turkey argues that it was a collective tragedy, during which 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and as many Turks lost their lives.

Yerevan has long sought international recognition of the "genocide", but Ankara dismisses the term.

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