Czech President seeks to suggest his country's parliament to recognize Armenian Genocide

Czech President Milos Zeman seeks to suggest his country's parliament to follow the German Bundestag's example and recognize the Armenian Genocide. The Czech leader made such statement at a joint news conference with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan on June 8.  

He said many European and other countries have recognized it.  President Zeman explained that he feels the pain of the Armenian people as the Czech people had suffered from the actions of the Nazi Germany for many years.  

President Serzh Sargsyan, in turn, thanked his Czech counterpart for his stance on the given issue and the resolution adopted by the Permanent Commission for Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament timed to the Armenian Genocide centennial.

On June 2, German Bundestag adopted the resolution on Armenian Genocide by a vast majority of votes.  Only one parliamentarian voted against and another abstained from voting.  The resolution recognizes not only the fact of Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in the beginning of the 20th century but also Germany's responsibility for these events. Ankara recalled its Ambassador to Germany Avni Karslioglu following the adoption of the resolution and warned Berlin of negative consequences of that step on Turkish- German relations.