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ARMENIANS CALL FOR GERMAN APOLOGY ON GENOCIDE ISSUE
Deutsche Welle, Germany
April 3 2015
For years, Germany's politicians have debated the question of whether
the Armenian Genocide should be referred to as such. Shortly before
the 100th anniversary of the massacre, the discussion has entered a
new round.
On April 24, the world will mark the 100th anniversary of the start
of the Armenian Genocide. But instead of a proper commemoration in
the Bundestag, there is controversy.
On the day of the anniversary later this month, the German parliament
will devote an hour to the debate over the crimes committed against
Armenian Christians in the former Ottoman Empire. In the place of
cross-party unity, dissent is expected to prevail.
The Greens and the Left Party are in favor of recognizing the massacre,
which took place from 1915 to 1916, as a genocide. But that's just
what the governing coalition of Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social
Democrats (SPD) want to prevent - likely over the fear that such a
decision would lead to a deep freeze in diplomatic relations with
Turkey. Ankara has steadfastly rejected any acknowledgment of the
past events as genocide.
Descendants of the victims live near the Surp Giragos Church in
Diyarbakir
"I, personally, am disappointed that there seems to be a critical
lack of courage when it comes to saying what really happened,"
said SPD politician Dietmar Nietan, in a recent interview with the
Berlin-based Tagesspiegel newspaper.
'An apology would be enough'
Descendants of massacre survivors have now called on the government
to do just that. "An apology would be enough," said Ergun Ayik,
head of the Surp Giragos Church Foundation in southern Turkish city
of Diyarbakir, told the news agency dpa. The Surp Giragos Church is
the largest Armenian church in the Middle East.
Armenian historian Ashot Hayruni, a professor at the Yerevan State
University, also thinks Germany has a duty. "It's important for the
German parliament to recognize the genocide as such, and condemn it,"
he said, adding that the government should also actively influence
Turkey to relent and make the same decision.
Many representatives of German civil society have condemned the
government's continued reluctance to recognize the genocide by name.
"Even ignorance can be meaningful," said Shermin Langhoff,
the director of the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin, speaking to
the Tagesspiegel. Langhoff, who has dedicated a special series of
programs at the theater in memory of the genocide, believes the
Bundestag's behavior is fatal and will leave open "a major gap in
Europe's cultural memory."
Markus Meckel has called for clarity from the German government
Markus Meckel, a civil rights activist from the former East Germany and
a former SPD member of parliament, feels as if the current debate has
been pushed back a decade. The Bundestag first dealt with the genocide
question in 2005, and even back then the Turkey factor prevented the
government from adopting a resolution.
After much back and forth, it was decided that Germans should apologize
for the "inglorious actions of the German Empire" - more was not
possible at that time. Even today, according to Meckel, the Bundestag
is threatening to stop short. "Anyone who denies the term [genocide]
essentially minimizes the disaster and the suffering," he said.
The Germans knew everything
The involvement of the German Empire in the deportation of Armenians
has long been considered as fact by historians. What has remained
controversial, however, was the extent to which Germans were involved.
Were they witnesses - or complicit?
According to estimates, anywhere from 300,000 to 1.5 million Armenians
died in the genocide. In Armenia, the catastrophe is known as "aghet"
- and is definitively categorized as genocide. In Turkey, however,
the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, the suffering of those
days is still officially considered a "war-induced displacement
and safety measures." Casualty figures are also disputed by Turkey,
which has prevented reconciliation between the two countries.
As Armenians faced mass expulsions and killings, German officers and
diplomats looked away
But Christin Pschichholz, a historian at the University of Potsdam,
doesn't mince words. "The German government was fully aware of the
policy of extermination of the Armenian population in the Ottoman
Empire," she said, after reviewing documents from Germany's Foreign
Office. Death marches, executions and forced labor - German diplomats
meticulously recorded everything that was going on around them at
the time.
"The conclusion, that between the years 1915 and 1918 a genocide
took place on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, has been known
by the German government for the last 100 years," said Rolf Hosfeld,
of the House of Lepsius Organization, which runs a genocide studies
program together with the university.
Germany doesn't want to jeopardize reconciliation
Bu that knowledge is not reflected in action. Government
representatives have always avoided the use of the word genocide
in connection with Armenia, instead using the terms "massacre" and
"expulsion."
During an inquiry by the Left Party in the Bundestag in February, the
government once again fell back on this language. The stated reason:
Germany does not want to jeopardize reconciliation between Armenia
and Turkey. The conceptual framing of the massacre, according to the
official line, should be left to the academics.
Armenia, along with more than 20 other countries, has recognized
the events as genocide under the United Nations Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948. About
a year ago, then prime minister and current Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan broke his country's decades-long silence and
apologized to the victims and their descendants, speaking of "inhuman
consequences" that led to the expulsion of the Armenians. He did not,
however, speak of genocide.
One hundred years ago, Armenians fled the genocide with some ending
up in Aleppo, Syria
In deference to Turkey
Meanwhile, all eyes will be on the official commemoration on April 24
in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. And also on the German delegation
that will travel to Armenia to mark the anniversary.
Here, too, it seems Germany has deferred to Turkish sensibilities
and will send only a small delegation. DW has found out that the
government's human rights commissioner, Christoph Strasser, and Deputy
Foreign Minister Michael Roth will travel to Yerevan.
Neither Chancellor Angela Merkel, nor Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier are planning to take part in an event which will see many
other prominent world leaders - including French President Francois
Hollande.
Cem Ozdemir, co-chairman of Germany's Green party, who traveled
through Armenia last month, sharply criticized Germany's behavior in
the Tagesspiegel. "With false regard to Mr. Erdogan, the government
is downplaying the Armenian Genocide," he said. "Hardly a dignified
response toward the victims and their descendants."
http://www.dw.de/armenians-call-for-german-apology-on-genocide-issue/a-18360967
Deutsche Welle, Germany
April 3 2015
For years, Germany's politicians have debated the question of whether
the Armenian Genocide should be referred to as such. Shortly before
the 100th anniversary of the massacre, the discussion has entered a
new round.
On April 24, the world will mark the 100th anniversary of the start
of the Armenian Genocide. But instead of a proper commemoration in
the Bundestag, there is controversy.
On the day of the anniversary later this month, the German parliament
will devote an hour to the debate over the crimes committed against
Armenian Christians in the former Ottoman Empire. In the place of
cross-party unity, dissent is expected to prevail.
The Greens and the Left Party are in favor of recognizing the massacre,
which took place from 1915 to 1916, as a genocide. But that's just
what the governing coalition of Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social
Democrats (SPD) want to prevent - likely over the fear that such a
decision would lead to a deep freeze in diplomatic relations with
Turkey. Ankara has steadfastly rejected any acknowledgment of the
past events as genocide.
Descendants of the victims live near the Surp Giragos Church in
Diyarbakir
"I, personally, am disappointed that there seems to be a critical
lack of courage when it comes to saying what really happened,"
said SPD politician Dietmar Nietan, in a recent interview with the
Berlin-based Tagesspiegel newspaper.
'An apology would be enough'
Descendants of massacre survivors have now called on the government
to do just that. "An apology would be enough," said Ergun Ayik,
head of the Surp Giragos Church Foundation in southern Turkish city
of Diyarbakir, told the news agency dpa. The Surp Giragos Church is
the largest Armenian church in the Middle East.
Armenian historian Ashot Hayruni, a professor at the Yerevan State
University, also thinks Germany has a duty. "It's important for the
German parliament to recognize the genocide as such, and condemn it,"
he said, adding that the government should also actively influence
Turkey to relent and make the same decision.
Many representatives of German civil society have condemned the
government's continued reluctance to recognize the genocide by name.
"Even ignorance can be meaningful," said Shermin Langhoff,
the director of the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin, speaking to
the Tagesspiegel. Langhoff, who has dedicated a special series of
programs at the theater in memory of the genocide, believes the
Bundestag's behavior is fatal and will leave open "a major gap in
Europe's cultural memory."
Markus Meckel has called for clarity from the German government
Markus Meckel, a civil rights activist from the former East Germany and
a former SPD member of parliament, feels as if the current debate has
been pushed back a decade. The Bundestag first dealt with the genocide
question in 2005, and even back then the Turkey factor prevented the
government from adopting a resolution.
After much back and forth, it was decided that Germans should apologize
for the "inglorious actions of the German Empire" - more was not
possible at that time. Even today, according to Meckel, the Bundestag
is threatening to stop short. "Anyone who denies the term [genocide]
essentially minimizes the disaster and the suffering," he said.
The Germans knew everything
The involvement of the German Empire in the deportation of Armenians
has long been considered as fact by historians. What has remained
controversial, however, was the extent to which Germans were involved.
Were they witnesses - or complicit?
According to estimates, anywhere from 300,000 to 1.5 million Armenians
died in the genocide. In Armenia, the catastrophe is known as "aghet"
- and is definitively categorized as genocide. In Turkey, however,
the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, the suffering of those
days is still officially considered a "war-induced displacement
and safety measures." Casualty figures are also disputed by Turkey,
which has prevented reconciliation between the two countries.
As Armenians faced mass expulsions and killings, German officers and
diplomats looked away
But Christin Pschichholz, a historian at the University of Potsdam,
doesn't mince words. "The German government was fully aware of the
policy of extermination of the Armenian population in the Ottoman
Empire," she said, after reviewing documents from Germany's Foreign
Office. Death marches, executions and forced labor - German diplomats
meticulously recorded everything that was going on around them at
the time.
"The conclusion, that between the years 1915 and 1918 a genocide
took place on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, has been known
by the German government for the last 100 years," said Rolf Hosfeld,
of the House of Lepsius Organization, which runs a genocide studies
program together with the university.
Germany doesn't want to jeopardize reconciliation
Bu that knowledge is not reflected in action. Government
representatives have always avoided the use of the word genocide
in connection with Armenia, instead using the terms "massacre" and
"expulsion."
During an inquiry by the Left Party in the Bundestag in February, the
government once again fell back on this language. The stated reason:
Germany does not want to jeopardize reconciliation between Armenia
and Turkey. The conceptual framing of the massacre, according to the
official line, should be left to the academics.
Armenia, along with more than 20 other countries, has recognized
the events as genocide under the United Nations Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948. About
a year ago, then prime minister and current Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan broke his country's decades-long silence and
apologized to the victims and their descendants, speaking of "inhuman
consequences" that led to the expulsion of the Armenians. He did not,
however, speak of genocide.
One hundred years ago, Armenians fled the genocide with some ending
up in Aleppo, Syria
In deference to Turkey
Meanwhile, all eyes will be on the official commemoration on April 24
in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. And also on the German delegation
that will travel to Armenia to mark the anniversary.
Here, too, it seems Germany has deferred to Turkish sensibilities
and will send only a small delegation. DW has found out that the
government's human rights commissioner, Christoph Strasser, and Deputy
Foreign Minister Michael Roth will travel to Yerevan.
Neither Chancellor Angela Merkel, nor Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier are planning to take part in an event which will see many
other prominent world leaders - including French President Francois
Hollande.
Cem Ozdemir, co-chairman of Germany's Green party, who traveled
through Armenia last month, sharply criticized Germany's behavior in
the Tagesspiegel. "With false regard to Mr. Erdogan, the government
is downplaying the Armenian Genocide," he said. "Hardly a dignified
response toward the victims and their descendants."
http://www.dw.de/armenians-call-for-german-apology-on-genocide-issue/a-18360967