The motion by the ruling coalition and the Greens, recognizing the Armenian killings as genocide, was passed by a near-unanimous vote with only one lawmaker opposing and one abstaining.
"The German Empire was Osman Empire’s main military ally. The then German government knew about the persecution and massacre of Armenians but remained idle. The Federal Republic of Germany believes itself responsible for promoting reconsideration of this crime and keeping the memory of it alive," the document read.
Some 1.2 million Armenians were slaughtered or starved to death by the Ottomans during and after World War I. The empire’s policy of ethnic violence was recognized by many European countries and Russia as genocide. Ankara maintains that Turkish nationals were also victimized.
