Germans press Turks on Armenian slaughter

The Associated Press, Friday, June 17, 2005

BERLIN Germany's Parliament on Thursday urged Turkey to examine its role in the killing of an estimated one million ethnic Armenians a century ago - an issue that could affect Ankara's hopes of joining the European Union.

Lawmakers adopted a cross-party resolution asking the German government to press Turkey to investigate the "organized expulsion and destruction of the Armenians" and foster reconciliation.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said it "regrets and strongly condemns" the decision. A ministry statement added that Turkey had cautioned Germany that the text was "biased, contained serious errors and lacked information," and had warned that its approval would "deeply wound the Turkish people."
[...]
The motion did not mention Turkey's effort to join the EU, but said the Armenian issue was an example of how Turkey needs to guarantee freedom of speech - an area where Ankara has been told it must improve if it is to join the 25-nation bloc.
[...]
The German motion noted that "numerous independent historians, parliaments and international organizations" describe the killing as genocide, but stopped short of using that label itself.

The motion [...] complained that the Turkish authorities were stifling debate at home. [...]

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears Here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.