The bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide (drafted by the coalition partners Christian Democrat Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD)) will be discussed in the German Parliament on June 2. The bill was previously discussed in February of 2016, but due to contradictory assessments by the ruling coalition and the Alliance 90/Greens party representatives, who initiated the bill, it was decided to withdraw the resolution for further processing.
"It is known that on the agenda of Turkey-EU negotiations the issue of refugees is considered a central one, in the context of which, Turkey's desires grow up day by day, and this resolution can possibly play a straitjacket role in EU-Turkey negotiations in terms of restraining the ambitions of that country," said Melkonyan, adding that being a political message from the EU to Turkey, it is clear that the issue of the Armenian Genocide has once again become a subject of international bargaining, this time by Germany.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in an interview with the leading German Bild newspaper, referring to the fate of the agreement on refugees between Turkey and European countries that might be reached after the adoption of the resolution by the Bundestag, said that the EU agreement with Turkey has 'clay feet' and is extremely difficult to implement with such a partner as Turkey. He, at the same time, stressed that the passage of the resolution on the Armenian Genocide in Germany is very important for Armenia and urged German lawmakers not to be cowed by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's warnings of damage to Berlin-Ankara relations and to go ahead with the motion.
The expert, considering quite unlikely the possibility of adoption of the Armenian-related resolution in the Bundestag, said that, apart from the issue of refugees, the deep Turkish-German relations and the existence of a large Turkish community in Germany are also important, which can cause serious damage to the resolution.
Speaking about the reaction of the Turkish side to the discussion of the resolution, Melkonyan said that it has becomes clear from the statements of the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim that the current foreign policy of Turkey reminds the rhetoric of the 80-90's Turkey, which was marked by rigidity and lack of diplomatic statements.