On 12 March 2015 Özdemir visited the Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan , Armenia and declared his formal recognition of the Armenian Genocide and called on Turkey to recognize it as well . In an interview he stated : " I think that Germany should obviously refer to the Armenian Genocide issue . As a friend of two countries , we should help to open the Armenian-Turkish border . As a friend of both countries , we should exert effort , so that the Armenian-Turkish relations become like the French-German or Polish-German relations . " In 2016 Özdemir initiated a resolution in the Bundestag that would formally classify the 1915 massacres as genocide . The resolution passed on 2 June 2016 with what Speaker Norbert Lammert called a " remarkable majority . " At the time , Özdemir emphasized that the resolution was not designed to point fingers at others but rather to acknowledge Germany 's partial responsibility for the genocide . In 1915 , the German Empire was an ally of the Ottoman Empire and failed to condemn the violence . After the Bundestag 's approval of the resolution he received multiple death threats
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Cem Özdemir