German Green Party Leader Ozdemir Calls on Turkey to Recognize Genocide

Özdemir criticized the timing of the official Turkish ceremonies to remember the Battle of Gallipoli on April 24, but expressed confidence they will not deflect international attention from the Genocide centennial. “It won’t work because Turks remember that [the Gallipoli ceremonies] never took place on April 24,” he said. “It is the first time that they will take place on April 24.”

Özdemir, whose opposition party controls 10 percent of seats in the German Bundestag, also stressed the importance of normalizing Turkey’s relations with Armenia. “My message to President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, if I have a chance to talk to him, would be: open the border with Armenia — that would be a gesture on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide — and name the border after Hrant Dink. That would be another gesture to remember Hrant, who served all his life to bring Armenians and Turks together,” he said, referring to the prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist assassinated in Istanbul in 2007.

“And then of course, after the border is opened, a lot of things would be much easier,” Özdemir said. “Turks and Armenians would meet each other. The Turkish economy could invest in Armenia. It would also help Armenia to move closer towards Europe.”

Successive Turkish governments have made the normalization of their relations with Yerevan conditional on a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that would satisfy Azerbaijan, Turkey’s main regional ally. They have accepted Baku’s claims that an open border would only encourage the Armenians to maintain the Karabagh status quo.

Özdemir insisted, however, that a Turkish-Armenian normalization would only facilitate a Karabagh settlement. “I personally believe that it would make it easier to negotiate between Armenia and Azerbaijan once Turkey could be an honest broker,” he said. “You can help bring the two sides together if you have diplomatic relations with both countries.”

Özdemir also addressed his country’s relations with Armenia. Germany has good relations with Armenia, he said, adding that the country would like to see a democratic, independent and more European Armenia.