Today after the ecumenical prayer held at the Berlin Cathedral in memory of the Armenian Genocide victims, Germany’s President Joachim Gauck made a statement in which he qualified the killings of Armenians, Assyrians and Pontiac Greeks on the territory of the Ottoman Empire as genocide, the official website of Germany’s President reports.

Several days ago German newspapers were already writing that if Germany’s President went for that step, it would be a slap in the face of Germany’s government, which avoids using the word ‘genocide.’

On Friday German Bundestag will put on a vote a resolution on Armenian Genocide. According to German mass media, the text of the resolution does not contain the word ‘genocide.’ Nevertheless, by that resolution Germany’s parliament calls on Turkey to recognize the fact of the occurrence.