Voted by show of hands of around 250 members only. Out of 631 [1]members who knows who attended. Not Legal or political. Non binding theatro-political action. House speaker Norbert Lammert spoke of a "remarkable majority." How many members were there. 150 plus. 25% of members is an overwhelming majority in Bundestag.
Präsident Dr. Norbert Lammert[2]: Wer stimmt für diesen Antrag? – Wer stimmt dagegen?– Wer enthält sich der Stimme? – Dann ist bei einer Gegenstimme und einer Enthaltung diese Entschließung mit einer bemerkenswerten Mehrheit des Deutschen Bundestages angenommen.
(show of hands) Then at a Vote against and one abstention this resolution with a remarkable majority of German Bundestag adopted. (clapping in the Bundestag)
Even before Germany's Bundestag lower house of parliament passed the symbolic resolution by an overwhelming majority, Turkey's prime minister had condemned the motion as "irrational" and said it would test the friendship between the NATO partners.
Germany's Bundestag passed a resolution qualifying the Ottoman era Armenian killings as 'genocide'. The lower house of parliament voted almost unanimously, with one vote against the motion and one abstention. House speaker Norbert Lammert spoke of a "remarkable majority."
The vote in the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament, was nearly unanimous, with one lawmaker voting against and another abstaining. Ms. Merkel and the two most senior Social Democrat ministers — Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier — were not present.
Norbert Lammert, the president of the Bundestag, kicked off the debate with a clear message. “Parliament is not a historians’ commission, and certainly not a court,” he said. He added that the current Turkish government “is not responsible for what happened 100 years ago, but it does have responsibility for what becomes of this” in present times.
Mr. Lammert, a Christian Democrat, labeled the Ottomans’ killing of Armenians as genocide last year. Particularly because of “our own chapters of dark history,” Germans know that only by working through past events can one achieve reconciliation and cooperation, Mr. Lammert said on Thursday.
Turkey's official line is that ethnic Armenians represented a fifth column backed by Russia during World War I, and that the mass deportation and accompanying Armenian deaths were not premeditated or intentional - a key requirement in the legal definition of genocide.
Three largest Turkish political parties condemned Thursday's German resolution in a joint declaration. The statement by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) was read out at the parliament.
The pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) did not take part in the declaration.
Germany has been working with Turkey on an agreement with the EU to stem the flow of migrants and refugees to Europe. Prior to Thursday’s vote, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the “genocide” designation could hurt “diplomatic, economic, business, political and military ties” between the two countries.
[2] The President of the German Bundestag holds the second highest office of state in Germany, after the Federal President. Professor Norbert Lammert has held the position of President of the Bundestag since 2005. He is a member of the largest parliamentary group, the CDU/CSU.