Genocide Is The Word

From the DW:

"Germany votes on Armenian genocide resolution amid warnings from Turkey"

German lawmakers are due to pass a resolution that would see the mass deaths of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 referred to as "genocide." Turkey has warned Berlin of consequences if it passes the resolution.  Thursday's vote in the Bundestag - Germany's lower house of parliament - comes at a time when German Chancellor Angela Merkel is relying on Turkey to implement a migrant deal with the EU. Germany also has extensive ties with Turkey, including 3 million residents of Turkish origin, dating back to a "guest worker" scheme in the 1960s and 70s. As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey officially denies that the events that started in 1915 amounted to genocide and has lashed out at countries that have officially recognized the term. When France formally called the displacements and killings genocide in 2011, Turkey temporarily recalled its ambassador; it did the same thing to Austria last year. Keen to avoid irking a key ally, the US has so far has avoided using the term, although more than 40 US state legislatures have passed genocide resolutions. Turkey's official line is that ethnic Armenians represented a fifth column backed by Russia during World War I, and that the mass deportation and accompanying Armenian deaths were not premeditated or intentional - a key requirement in the legal definition of genocide. Ahead of the vote, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Germany against changing the terminology used to refer to the Armenian massacre. Before heading on a trip to Africa on Tuesday, Erdogan told reporters the resolution's passage would "naturally damage future diplomatic, economic, business, political and military relations between the two countries - and we are both also NATO countries." Reiterating Erdogan's stance on Wednesday, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim described Thursday's pending Bundestag motion as "absurd." Armenia's president, Serzh Sargsyan, told German daily "Bild," however, that he was sure German lawmakers would adopt the wording. "I am sure: the politicians in the Bundestag see it the same way and will not allow themselves to be intimidated," Sargsyan said. The resolution, submitted by the Greens, is entitled "Remembrance and commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in 1915 and 1916" and carries the contested word throughout the text. On April 24, 2015 - on the 100th anniversary of what Armenians call the Great Crime - the Bundestag postponed voting on a similar resolution to classify the mass killings as "genocide." German President Joachim Gauck used the term, however, drawing criticism from Turkey. At the time, the governing coalition opted not to vote on the resolution, but the Greens led by Cem Ozdemir, an ethnic Turk, forced a vote this year. Officials in Turkey put the number of Armenians who died at around 500,000, while Armenia puts the number at about 1.5 million - out of a pre-war population of some 2 million.

^ It was a genocide and to call it anything else is to dishonor the memory of the men, women and children that were killed. The Germans know about that all too well. Hitler even commented about what he was doing to the Jews during the Holocaust and what happened to the Armenians by saying something to the effect of "Who remembers what happened to the Armenians?" and it had been about 25 years since the Armenian Genocide when he said that. The world needs to call a spade a spade and a genocide a genocide. Obama always said he would use the term "genocide" if elected/reelected and yet he hasn't  - not even during the 100th anniversary of the genocide last year. I hope the Germans do now follow his footsteps and instead join the dozens of countries and US states that officially recognize the Armenians Genocide. ^

http://www.dw.com/en/germany-votes-on-armenian-genocide-resolution-amid-warnings-from-turkey/a-19299171