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European Parliament Votes To Call Armenian Massacre 'Genocide'

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  • European Parliament Votes To Call Armenian Massacre 'Genocide'

    EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO CALL ARMENIAN MASSACRE 'GENOCIDE'

    Deutsche Welle, Germany
    April 16 2015

    The European Parliament has approved a resolution "to recognize the
    Armenian genocide" a century ago by Ottoman Turkish forces. Turkey
    has dismissed the resolution, which commends recent comments by
    Pope Francis.

    The European Parliament approved a motion on Wednesday that
    commemorates the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World
    War I in 1915, labeling it a "genocide."

    The non-binding resolution passed by a large majority with a show
    of hands.

    Before the vote, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he
    would ignore the result, and that "it would go in one ear and out
    the other." Turkey is strongly opposed to qualifying the deaths as
    genocide, saying that hundreds of thousands of both Turks and Christian
    Armenians lost their lives in the struggle between the Ottoman forces
    and the Russian Empire over eastern Anatolia during World War I.

    Nonetheless, the resolution welcomed remarks by Erdogan and others
    "offering condolances and recognizing atrocities against the Ottoman
    Armenians." It urges Ankara to go further and "recognize the Armenian
    Genocide and thus to pave the way for a genuine reconciliation between
    the Turkish and Armenian peoples."

    The resolution repeats language used in 1987, when the European
    Parliament defined the killings as a "genocide."

    It comes days after the use of the term by Pope Francis sparked fury in
    Ankara, with the Turkish government summoning the Vatican ambassador
    in Istanbul. Wednesday's resolution in Brussels defends the pope,
    commending his weekend message.

    During the debate in Brussels, conservative German MEP Elmar Brok
    said there was a "moral obligation" to recognize and commemorate
    such massacres.

    "My own people committed genocides," Brok said.

    The German parliament is also set to discuss the issue later this
    month.

    http://www.dw.de/european-parliament-votes-to-call-armenian-massacre-genocide/a-18386508

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