Turkey says ties with Germany won’t ‘deteriorate entirely’

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey’s prime minister says his government intends to take further measures in response to the German Parliament’s decision to label as genocide the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago. But he says no one should expect ties to “deteriorate entirely.”

Binali Yildirim said Friday that Germany had made a “historic” error, which it should rectify.

In Berlin, German’s foreign ministry spokeswoman expressed hope that the “deep” and “close” relations between the two nations won’t be further compromised.

“We trust that what we’ve built up in recent decades is so strong that it won’t be shaken,” Sawsan Chebli told reporters.

Turkey recalled its ambassador in Berlin for consultations after Thursday’s vote. Yildirim didn’t specify what else it might do.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event viewed by many scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey disputes the description. It says the toll has been inflated and considers those killed victims of a civil war.

Speaking ahead of a trip to Azerbaijan, Yildirim also lashed out at Armenia, saying the country has a history of being “involved in wrong things through agitations.”

“In the past they were involved in terror attacks against our country that took the lives of many of our diplomats,” he said, referring to a 1980s assassinations campaign against Turkish diplomats in several countries.

“Today, it is no secret that they have tacitly, through other ways, opened arms to terror organizations,” Yildirim added in an allusion to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, which has been in conflict with Turkey for decades.

The Armenian foreign ministry dismissed the claims that Armenia has supported terrorism.

“The new prime minister is playing outdated songs, which is ruining his pledge for change,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan told The Associated Press on Friday. “Not surprised at all.”

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Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, and Dominique Soguel in Istanbul, Turkey, and Frank Jordans in Berlin, Germany, contributed to this report.