German MPs recognise mass killing of Armenians as 'genocide'

The German parliament has approved a symbolic resolution on Thursday that declares the 1915 mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces a "genocide".

Protesters wave flags of Turkey and Germany in front of the Brandenburg gate in Berlin. Source: AP

It's a move that risks aggravating tensions with Turkey at a sensitive time for Berlin and its European partners.

Turkey rejects the idea that the killings of up to 1.5 million Christian Armenians during World War I amounted to a genocide and has warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the run-up to the Bundestag vote that it will damage bilateral ties.

The timing could not be more awkward for Merkel, who has staked her political future on a deal with Turkey under which Ankara has agreed to stem the flow of refugees to Europe in exchange for cash, visa-free travel rights and accelerated talks on European Union membership.

After repeated delays over the past year, Merkel is powerless to stop the resolution, which has been championed by the opposition Greens party and is also supported by MPs from her conservative bloc and the centre-left Social Democrats.

Berlin is expecting a backlash from Ankara. Last year, when neighbouring Austria passed a similar declaration, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Vienna and warned of "permanent negative effects" on relations.

But German officials hope the vote will not undermine the migrant deal between the EU and Turkey, which has been under a cloud since Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan pushed out his prime minister last month and began questioning parts of the agreement.

"We can only hope this doesn't lead to an over-reaction from the Turkish side," said Franz Josef Jung, a senior MP in Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

The resolution uses the word "genocide" in the headline and text. It also acknowledges that the German Empire, then a military ally of the Ottomans, did nothing to stop the killings.

More than 20 other countries, including France, have passed similar resolutions in past years, infuriating Turkey, which accepts that many Armenians were massacred in 1915 but denies there was any organised campaign to wipe them out.