Turkey’s Minister for EU Affairs, Egemen Bagis, asked for Germany’s assistance to resolve the “historical dispute between France and Turkey.” Bagis stated this in an interview with Welt.  

In Bagis’ words, the German archives must have testimonies on the events in 1915. The Turkish politician called upon Berlin to open its archives before the historians. 

Egemen Bagis stressed that the documents, which he looked through, bespeak no intentional extermination of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, but rather a civil war. In his words, there were losses from the Turkish and Armenian sides alike, Lenta.ru writes.     

Switzerland has launched an investigation against this Turkish minister. During the World Economic Forum in Davos and a concert in Zurich, he repeatedly confirmed that he denies the Armenian Genocide. Such statements are considered unlawful in Switzerland.  

To note, after his meeting with Egemen Bagis, President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, had told news reporters: “My recommendation to the Turkish authorities is today the same as it was in previous times. You should face your own history and you should allow independent inquiries about your history. If the independent inquires come to the conclusion that it was Genocide, you should recognize it. But I think it is first up to Turkey to solve the problem. I respect the parliamentarian autonomy and the independence of the French Parliament, and I respect the law adopted in France. I know that there are a lot of people in the European Union sharing the views of the French Members of the Parliament.”

In late January, the French Senate passed the bill that criminalizes the denial of genocides, including the Armenian Genocide, and this caused a huge protest in Turkey. The bill is currently examined by the French Constitutional Council.