Germany defying 'Angry man of Europe' Turkey, will call 1915 Armenian massacre 'genocide'.

Germany defying 'Angry man of Europe' Turkey, will call 1915 Armenian massacre 'genocide'. (HD).

The German government backed away on April 20 from a steadfast refusal to use the term "genocide" to describe the massacre of Ottoman Armenians 100 years ago after rebellious members of parliament forced its hand.

In a major reversal in Turkey's top trading partner in the European Union and home to millions of Turks, Germany joins other nations and institutions including France, the European parliament and Pope Francis in using the term condemned by Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said the government would support a resolution in parliament on April 24 declaring it an example of genocide.

Germany had long resisted using the term "genocide" even though France and other nations have. But the coalition government came under pressure from parliamentary deputies in their own ranks planning to use the word in a resolution.

"The government backs the draft resolution...in which the fate of the Armenians during World War One serves as an example of the history of mass murders, ethnic cleansings, expulsions and, yes, the genocides during the 20th century," Seibert said.

Turkey denies that the killings, at a time when Turkish troops were fighting Russian forces, constituted genocide. It says there was no organised campaign to wipe out Armenians and no evidence of any such orders from the Ottoman authorities.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had rejected using the word genocide in an ARD TV interview on Sunday, denying any suggestion it was being avoided to avoid upsetting Turkey.

"Responsibility can't be reduced to a single term," he said. Members of parliament in the conservative Christian Democrats and their Social Democrat (SPD) allies forced the change.

@MFS001 @coinabs @cut_the_crap_ec ERDOGAN: Gaza 1.5K victims GENOCIDE! Armenia 1.5M victims WHAT GENOCIDE?
— M come Micio (@emktintin) April 20, 2015

Related:  No Holds Barred - Pres. Obama's hypocrisy on the Armenian Genocide.