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Germany Admonishes Turkish Leaders Over Armenian Genocide Vote


German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Turkey's angry reaction to a vote recognizing the Armenian genocide is "incomprehensible."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Turkey's angry reaction to a vote recognizing the Armenian genocide is "incomprehensible."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel admonished Turkish leaders on June 7 for slamming lawmakers who approved a resolution recognizing the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide.

Germany also invited the Turkish charge d'affaires to the foreign ministry to discuss the matter.

The vote in the Bundestag's lower house last week enraged Turkey, which denies the killing of at least 1 million Christian Armenians during World War I was genocide.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused Germans of hypocrisy, given their own 20th century history, and said the blood of German lawmakers of Turkish origin who voted for the resolution should be tested to see "what kinds of Turks they are."

"The lawmakers in Germany's lower house of parliament are freely elected without exception, and the accusations and statements which have been made by the Turkish side are incomprehensible," Merkel said.

"It was clear with the passing of the resolution that there is a difference of views between the majority of the Bundestag and the Turkish side," said Merkel, adding she would push for direct talks between Turkey and Armenia.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP

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