Central Council of Jews in Germany recognizes 1915 massacres in Ottoman Empire as Genocide

February 18, 2011 - 15:22 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Stephan Kramer, Secretary General of the Central Council of Jews in Germany recognized 1915 massacres in Ottoman Empire as Genocide in an interview with representatives of Armenian Community of Germany (ADK).

“Because of the facts known to me, I say that it was a genocide,” Kramer said. “But the more important question is how to judge the Turkish government and the Turkish people for this crime. Already in 1998, the Council of Europe recognized the crimes against the Armenians as genocide.”

“The US-Congress' Foreign Affairs Committee, in March 2010, albeit by a narrow majority, approved a resolution that stated that it was a genocide. The vast majority of international scientists concur with this view. All of this is beneficial but not worth much, if the Turkish government does not finally start to use the comprehensive and internationally-known facts to draw their own conclusions. This is not about the Turkey of today. But they must point an admonitory index finger to the deeds of their great-grandfathers collectively and humiliate them on the international dock. The process of working this out must finally be put in motion,” Kramer stated.

“The discussion about the genocide of the Armenians has been going on for decades with a passion. Unfortunately, the issue has been all too often opportunistically sacrificed on the altar of international political interests and dependencies to the NATO-member Turkey,” centerarnews.com cited Kramer as saying.