BERLIN — Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle published an article on Germany’s role and involvement in the Armenian Genocide titled “Armenian Genocide – German Guilt?”.
In the article the publication quotes German historians as saying that German authorities had clear information on extermination and eviction of Armenians over 1915-1916.
In particular, historian Christin Pschichholz from the University of Potsam who had studied the German Foreign Ministry’s archives concluded that “the German diplomats painstakingly took note of everything happening around them at that time”.
Specifically, a dispatch sent on July 7, 1915 by the German Ambassador in Constantinople to the Imperial Chancellor reads “it is the declared intention of the government [meaning the Turkish government] to destroy the Armenian race in the Turkish Empire.”
Deutsche Welle also claims that there is a dispute as to who will represent Germany at the main memorial service in Armenia on the 100th anniversary of the genocide on April 24 this year.
“It is possible that only the German ambassador will attend the service, whereas France will be represented by the president himself, Francois Hollande. Historian Jurgen Gottschlich has called this ”scandalous””, Deutsche Welle reports.
Deutsche Welle has also noted that the German parliament plans to remember the victims of the Armenian genocide with a debate.
Photo: A German military mission was posted to the Ottoman Empire at the time of the genocide
