Turkey recalls ambassador after German MPs' Armenian genocide vote

Turkey has recalled its ambassador in Berlin after German lawmakers approved a motion which describes the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a century ago as genocide - a decision that said the Turkish prime minister will "test" of relations between the two countries at a sensitive time.

The five-page paper, co-authored by MPs from the Christian Democrats, the Social Democrats and the Green Party, calls for "a reminder of the Armenian genocide and other Christian minorities in 1915 and 1916". It passed with the support of all parties in parliament. In the hand, one abstention and one vote against.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has voted in favor of the resolution for the sound tests in a party meeting on Tuesday, but the absence of actual sound on Thursday, as the vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel and foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Party politician Gregor Gysi left illustrates the absence as "not very brave."

Turkish authorities have always refused to use the term genocide to describe the massacre and expulsion of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians and members of the Christian minority in the Ottoman Empire.

In a statement, members of the committee for foreign relations of the Turkish parliament said they "strongly condemn and reject this bill falsifying historical facts about the events of 1915", on the grounds that it was "contrary to the case-law of international and European".

"This is totally unacceptable that the event, which took place under special conditions of World War I 101 years ago and caused grievous suffering for Turkey and Armenia, introduced as 'genocide' is based on the subjective motives of political bias, and the distorted", said statement.

Speaking before the vote on Thursday, Turkish Prime Minister described the vote as "a real test of friendship" between his country and Germany. "Some countries that we consider a friend, when they have difficulties in domestic policy, trying to divert attention from it," Binali Yildirim said at a meeting of his Justice and Development Party. "This resolution is an example of that."

On Wednesday he went further, saying the vote was "ridiculous" and said that the murder was "normal" events of the war. Yildirim repeated warnings from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that the bilateral relations will be broken by Germany's decision to call the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces genocide.

The agreement to return the migrants arrived in the Greek islands to Turkey in the past few months has reduced the number of immigrants who arrived in Central Europe, reducing the pressure on Merkel, the German chancellor. But Erdogan has repeatedly questioned because of the condition of the deal, with members of his party threatened to cancel the deal altogether.

Opening the debate on Thursday, Parliament Speaker Norbert Lammert Germany recognizes that overcoming historical events can be painful.

"But we also have to see that an honest assessment and self-critical of the past do not harm relations with other countries," he said. "In fact, it is a prerequisite for understanding, reconciliation and cooperation."

He said the Turkish government today is not responsible for what happened 100 years ago, "but share responsibility for what happens to it in the future."

Some historians argue that Germany, a close ally of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, realized at the time of the massacre and supported politically. Bundestag resolution contains a section recognizes "the involvement of the German Reich in the event", as well as six references to the Holocaust.

During the one-hour debate, the German Green Party German-Turkish co-chair Cem Ozdemir argued that the resolution was "not about pointing fingers or claim moral high ground", but comes from the "historical duty to encourage Turkey -Armenian reconciliation in friendship".

Both members of the Turkish and Armenian Embassy in Germany who was present during the voting, with the latter group held signs reading "Confessions Now - Thank you" at the end of the session.

Twenty governments, including France, Italy and Russia, in the past described the mass killings of Armenians as genocide, and Francis Pope called the killings as "genocide first of the 20th century" in 2015. German President Joachim Gauck, also used the phrase in a speech in April last year.

Thursday's vote was originally scheduled for last year, but was put on ice because of pressure from the German government coalition, reportedly for fear of Turkish-German relations destabilization.