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Germany Recognizes Armenian Killings in 1915 as Genocide

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Germany recognized the killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians under Turkish rule 100 years ago as genocide, joining nations such as France and Russia.

In a first for a German official, President Joachim Gauck called the campaign against Armenians a planned crime that meets the definition of genocide and said German actions at the time were partly to blame. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition plans to pass a parliamentary resolution taking the same position.

“The fate of the Armenians is an example of the history of mass exterminations, ethnic cleansing, deportations and, yes, the genocides that left such a terrible mark on the 20th century,” Gauck said in an advance copy of a speech at the Berlin Cathedral on Thursday. “This planned, criminally calculated act struck Armenians for one reason alone: because they were Armenians.”

Germany has faced pressure from some European partners to follow their example and confront Turkey about the killings and deportations that began in April 1915 during World War I. Until now, Germany has focused on urging Turkey to publicly come to terms with its past.

It’s a balancing act for Merkel’s government, which plans to pass the lower-house measure on Friday as leaders meet in commemoration in the Armenian capital of Yerevan. Germany is Turkey’s biggest trading partner in the European Union, its biggest foreign investor and home to the largest group of Turks outside the country. Turkey recognizes the killings, while saying they weren’t genocide.
‘Historical Guilt’

“We aren’t placing anyone alive today into the defendant’s dock,” Gauck, whose post is mostly ceremonial, said in his speech. “But the descendants of the victims rightfully expect a recognition of historical facts and of a historical guilt.”

German military advisers helped plan and partially carry out the deportations, while leaders in Berlin ignored reports by German observers and diplomats on the ground, Gauck said. That means Germany had “a shared responsibility, possibly even a shared blame, for the genocide of the Armenians,” he said.

France, Russia, Greece, Sweden and the Netherlands are among countries that recognize the killings as genocide and plan to send senior representatives to Yerevan. Merkel won’t attend and will send a junior foreign minister instead.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will hold a ceremony the same day to mark the 1915 Gallipoli campaign, even though that World War I battle is normally observed on a different date.

Last year, Turkey offered condolences for the first time for mass deportations that preceded the Armenian deaths. Armenia estimates 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed from 1915 to 1923. Turkey says the figure is inflated and that killings of Armenians took place during clashes in which thousands of Turks also died.

“Let us be careful not to reduce this debate to differences about a word,” Gauck said. “What’s needed most of all -- even 100 years later -- is to recognize, lament and mourn the full, terrible reality of the planned destruction of a people.”