Erdogan's Strong Criticism of Germany Over Armenian Genocide Resolution

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, stated that his country "will never accept the accusation of genocide against Armenians" and that Germany, due to the Holocaust, is the "last country" that can accuse Turkey of genocide. On Saturday, June 15, in a televised speech, Erdogan said, "The issue here is not the Armenians" and added that "the issue of Armenians worldwide has become a pretext for extorting Turkey and a club against us." The German parliament approved a proposal on Thursday, June 13, which states that from now on, the massacre of Armenians during World War I by the Ottoman Empire will be referred to as "genocide" in Germany. Turkey was established after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish government has strongly protested Germany's decision and recalled its ambassador from Berlin. Erdogan also stated, "I say to the whole world; you may like it or not! Our position on the Armenian issue has been clear from the beginning. We will never accept the accusation of genocide." In addition to recalling the Holocaust, Erdogan urged Germany to "re-examine the massacre of the indigenous people of Namibia during the German Empire about a century ago." He also warned that if this issue is not resolved, Europe will be "left alone with its concerns." Turkey has been a candidate for EU membership for years but has yet to achieve this historical demand. Recently, Turkey and the EU reached an agreement to prevent a wave of refugees from entering Europe. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed during World War II in the Ottoman Empire. However, in his speech on Saturday, the Turkish president said that the Ottoman Empire was "under siege from all sides at that time" and "had to take actions to calm the situation." In this context, despite Turkey's intense pressure, Germany referred to the Armenian massacre as "genocide."