Political scientist says Armenian Genocide resolution is likely to be adopted by Bundestag

YEREVAN, JUNE 2, ARMENPRESS. Political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan says the resolution recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide is likely to be adopted by the German Bundestag on June 2. However, he said he is not 100% sure.

“I see possibility of the resolution to be adopted, however, I cannot surely say this. I agree with the positive assessments that Germany will definitely adopt the resolution”, “Armenpress” reports, he stated.

He said to speak about this issue in more detail, first of all it is important to be aware of the German internal policy, the stance of the political figures and the further developments in order to understand whether the German Bundestag will condemn the Armenian Genocide or not. “That’s why I will refrain from making additional comments and predictions. I only see that the resolution is likely to be adopted, however, I am not totally sure”, Iskandaryan concluded.

The discussions over the resolution of the Armenian Genocide kicked off in the German Bundestag. The resolution is entitled "Remembrance and commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in 1915 and 1916".

The heated discussion of the Armenian Genocide on February 25 at Bundestag did not terminate with voting in 2016.

In 2005, Germany's parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian massacres, deportations and ethnic cleanings. However, in the Bundestag’s decision, the term Armenian Genocide was avoided, and instead "massacres of Armenians" was used.

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.

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”. During the session the leaders of various party fractions also came with their pro-Armenian statements admitting what had happened. However, the discussion of the resolution indefinitely postponed.