100 years have already passed since the Armenian massacres committed in the Ottoman Empire – a slaughter watched with the silent approval of Turkey’s ally Germany. In the country of Germany’s friend, Turkey, it is uncommon to speak or write about the Armenian Genocide. At best, one can go to prison for that or sometimes be killed, reports the German newspaper Der Freitag, touching upon Germany’s silence before the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

However, in Germany it is possible to not only write and speak about the Armenian Genocide, but also not be afraid of being heard or read. Unfortunately, only Switzerland, Slovenia and Greece have adopted laws criminalizing the denial of the Genocide.

“Germany refuses to criminalize the denial of the Armenian Genocide because of the significance of the Turkish community. Even Israel continues to refuse criminalizing the Armenia Genocide, despite knowing that the latter paved the way for the Nazi to commit the Holocaust. Of course, the important role here belongs to the close relations between Israel and Turkey,” Der Freitag reports.

According to the newspaper, the United States refuse to criminalize the denial of the Armenian Genocide for strategic reasons. “Turkey is an important ally for the United States; accordingly, they don’t want to spoil their relations with Turkey because of the events that took place in the past. Besides, on the basis of their own experience, the Americans have developed their perspective on the question of the extermination of indigenous people. The Armenians settled in Asia Minor many thousand years ago, long before the first Turk stepped there. The same is true for the Americans, who settled on the land belonging to the Indians,” the newspaper notes.  

But why does Turkey still deny the Armenian Genocide? “The Turks cannot ground this by any fact. The Armenian Genocide is an examined and confirmed fact, even if all the Turkish governments deny it. From moral perspective, Turkey must compensate the living generations of the Genocide victims,” Der Freitag writes.