Bill on Armenian Genocide to be submitted for a vote in Bundestag till April 24

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. The heated discussion of the Armenian Genocide at Bundestagdid not terminate with voting. “Armenpress” reports, citing Public Radio of Armenia, it was decided to withdraw the resolution for amendments as a result of opposing positions and assessments between the ruling coalition and the Alliance 90/The Greens, author of the resolution.

At the end of the discussion, which lasted longer than the in advance planned 45 minutes, the voting on the resolution came into question as the ruling coalition of Christian Democratic Union andChristian Social Union found that it is not the proper time to adopt the bill and proposed to continue the discussions in the coming weeks to prepare a new finalized document until April 24, 2016. Left-wing forces that conduct pro-Armenian policy in terms of Genocide abstained too, announcing that they are not satisfied with this form of the resolution and they will prepare and submit their own resolution prior to April 24.

As a result of all that happened Chairman of the Alliance 90/The Greens Cem Ozdemirbrought forward preconditions for withdrawing the resolution: the new document must be submitted before April 24 and must include 3 clear provisions: 1. It must assess the events of 1915 as genocide, accept Germany’s role in the massacre and contribute to the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations.

Before that the representatives of the ruling coalition mentioned in their speeches that they are not interested in jeopardizing negotiations with Turkey over refugee inflow. Cem Ozdemirstrictly condemned the position of “not driving Erdoğan angry”.

Worth mentioning that at the end of the discussions Chancellor Angela Merkel was passing by the MPs representing the coalition and talking to them over the issue.

In 2005, Germany's parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. However, in the Bundestag’s decision, the term Armenian Genocide was avoided, and instead "massacres of Armenians" was used. In March of 2015, the President of the German Parliament Norbert Lammert said: "what happened in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War in front of the whole world, was genocide. And it was not the last genocide of the 20th century. "

On April 24, before the Bundestag hearings, Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced that he supports those MPs, who are in favor of calling the mass killings of Armenians “Genocide”. On April 23, during the ceremony in the Berlin Cathedral dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide, German President Joachim Gauck used the term “Genocide” in his speech.