BERLIN — Ambassador of Turkey Hüseyin Avni Karslioglu has returned to Germany as tensions ease over the Bundestag’s Armenian genocide resolution. Earlier this week, Turkey lifted a ban on MPs visiting German troops stationed in the country.
Karslioglu was recalled from his post in June after Germany’s lower hourse of parliament voted to reclassify as genocide the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I. The Ankara government vehemently rejects the genocide designation, which more than 20 other countries have adopted.
The resolution’s passing led to a marked deterioration in relations between Berlin and Ankara. It also followed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to press charges against a German comedian and a television executive, a response to an insulting satirical “poem” that was highly critical of the president.
Ties between the two NATO partners weakened further when Turkey demanded the extradition of followers of exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of being behind July 15’s failed coup attempt.
In retaliation, Turkey denied a delegation of German MPs permission to visit the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey, where the German military is participating in the international coalition against the “Islamic State” (IS) militant group.
