Merkel to miss vote as Turkey pressures Germany not to recognize Armenian genocide
“At the moment, this vote is due in the morning or at lunchtime and as things stand the chancellor will not take part in the vote in the German Bundestag because she has public appointments,” spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz said on Wednesday, as cited by Reuters.
Although Merkel will not be attending, the chancellor has already indicated that she is in favor of the resolution.
“She told me this morning that she sided with her parliamentary group,” Wirtz said when answering a question regarding whether Merkel approved the resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide, according to AFP.
Her stance is supported by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who has urged German politicians not to be influenced by Turkish rhetoric.
By skipping the vote, the German head of state will be extricating herself from a potentially tricky political situation, as Turkey has been putting pressure on Berlin to reject the resolution. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already warned that relations between the two countries will suffer if Germany recognizes the mass killings of Armenians as genocide.
Former German intelligence officer Rainer Rupp told RT that the Turkish president was guilty of “gross interference,” and pressuring the German parliament would not be tolerated
