Turkey rights group thanks Bundestag for Armenian Genocide recognition

June 11, 2016 - 12:18 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Committee Against Racism and Discrimination of the Human Rights Association of Turkey, Istanbul branch, sent a letter to the Consul General of Germany in Istanbul, expressing gratitude regarding the German Parliament’s historic vote on June 2 recognizing the Armenian Genocide, The Armenian Weekly reports.

The letter also denounces the racist announcements by Turkish government officials, the media, and members of society.

The German Parliament approved the resolution recognizing the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I as genocide. The term genocide is used in both the text and headline of the resolution, which also states that Germany bears some guilt for its inaction at the time. Following the vote, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Germany “for consultations.”

German Members of Parliament (MP) of Turkish origin have been labeled traitors following the vote, with some receiving death threats. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan scolded the German MPs of Turkish origin, saying, “What sort of Turks are they?” and that “their blood must be tested in a lab.”

“The German Parliamentary decision of June 2, 2016 is exemplary in showing the approach that the world must take with regard to crimes against humanity committed by states, in that in its decision to “remember and commemorate the genocide against Armenians and other Christians in the period 1915-16,” it has not only recognized the premeditated, systematic genocide perpetrated in Anatolia and Asia Minor, but also clearly stated that Germany was also responsible,” the Committee Against Racism said, according to The Armenian Weekly.

“Opposed to this exemplary stance is the attitude in Turkey, which condones the crime. The insults and discourses of racial hatred directed toward Germany, German MPs, and the German people, as well as the actions in which such discourses were used, constitute crimes in the countries that enforce the standards of international law.”