Genocide vote won’t kill Germany ties: Turkey

Turkey and Germany are “two very important allies” and the German Parliament’s qualification of World War I killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide will not destroy their relations, Turkey’s Prime Minister said on Friday.

“Germany and Turkey are two very important allies. No one should expect that relations will suddenly deteriorate completely because of this decision or similar decisions,” Binali Yildirim told a press conference.

“That doesn’t mean however that we will not react, that we will say nothing.”

The comments came a day after Turkey reacted with fury to the vote, recalling its ambassador to Germany for consultations and threatening further measures.

Berlin’s Lower House of Parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a non-binding resolution on the 1915-16 killings — one MP voted against and another abstained — in a move touching a raw nerve in Turkish-European relations.

The use of the word “genocide” goes to the heart of a long-running battle for world opinion between Armenia and Turkey over the massacres committed a century ago.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesperson said on Friday that German-Turkish relations are strong enough to withstand any differences in views.

“The relationship between Germany and Turkey is very broad and very deep,” Steffen Seibert told journalists, underlining wide-ranging collaboration including on the migration crisis.

“Such ties can and will weather any differences in opinion,” said the spokesperson, who also pointed to the special relationship due to the three-million-strong ethnic Turkish population living in Germany.

Carrying a clear message from Ms Merkel to any dissenting ethnic Turks in Germany, Mr Seibert said: “You are and remain a part of our country”.