[JURIST] The German Parliament [official website] on Friday approved a resolution [press release] declaring the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces during World War I a “genocide.” The resolution’s approval, which coincides with the centenary of the start of the killings, was led by President of the Bundestag Norbert Lammert [official website], who believes that Turkey must join Germany in reconciling with the world for the prior acts of genocide of the past. Lammert stated in regards to shared reconciliation, “[t]he unparalleled experiences of violence in the 20th century have ensured that we know there can be no real peace until the victims, their relatives and descendants experience justice: through remembrance of the events.” The Bundestag also noted the global issues today of political, ethnic and religious prosecution and how the world must continue to fight these actions against humanity to not repeat mistakes of the past.

In recent years Armenian nationals have fought with the international community to recognize the killing of 1.5 million Armenian citizens as genocide [JURIST news archive]. Turkey has long disputed the numbers, alleging the killings were a result of a civil war that took place after the collapse of the Ottoman empire. In December 2009 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled [JURIST report] that prosecutions for denying that the killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 was a genocide are an attack on freedom of expression. In 2009 Turkey and Armenia signed [JURIST report] a landmark accord in Switzerland to normalize relations between the two countries and open up borders. In 2010 a spokesperson for the US State Department stated that the Obama administration opposed a vote [JURIST report] before the House of Representatives on a resolution [HR 252 materials] branding the World War I-era killings of Armenians by Turkish forces as genocide. In September 2014 the Parliament of Greece ratified a bill that criminalizes the denial of the Armenian Genocide [JURIST report].