More than a century after the genocide of the indigenous Armenians (1894–1923), the question of the role played by the German Empire is being raised again. While Turkey continues to deny the genocide, Germany took a practical step in 2015: President Joachim Gauck openly declared his country’s complicity in the crimes committed against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

The President’s Open Recognition

On 23  April, 2015, during a mass ceremony in Berlin’s Cathedral, Joachim Gauck declared:

“We must acknowledge our own negligence, as well as our shared responsibility, our complicity in the Armenian Genocide.”

These words, spoken on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany, became a historic turning point: for the first time, a German state minister acknowledged the moral and political responsibility of the Kaiserreich for one of the greatest crimes of the 20th century.

Shortly afterwards, the Bundestag also confirmed this recognition in a historic resolution, noting the “joint guilt” of the German Empire, which was united with the Turkish government during the First World War.

Complicity documented in secret diplomatic documents

Documents from the German Foreign Ministry’s “Politisches Archiv,” examined by historian Wolfgang Gust, reveal that German diplomats were well aware of the ongoing massacres.

In July 1915, Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim, the ambassador in Constantinople, wrote:

“The conditions of the revolutions show that the aim of the Ottoman government is to exterminate the Armenian nation in the empire.”

His successor, Paul Graf Wolff Metternich, said in December 1915:

“What they are doing there is our business – our officers, our guns, our money. Without our help, the Ottoman Empire would have fallen.”

These documents prove  not only the awareness of the crimes, but also the lack of prevention. The German contingent continued to provide military, logistical, and diplomatic support to the Young Turk government that carried out the Genocide.

German Officers’ Direct Participation 

Liman von Sanders and von der Goltz witnessed mass deportations, sometimes on the very roads of Armenia. Some, according to contemporary accounts, turned a blind eye or justified the “measures” by military necessity.

A precedent for state complicity

The Germans did not organize the massacres, but they made them possible:

• By modernizing the Ottoman army from the 1880s,

• providing weapons and logistical support,

• and maintaining diplomatic silence to maintain a strategic alliance with Istanbul.
  

Historical justification and compensation claims

 The 2015 moral recognition did not trigger a formal reparations process, but today there are voices, especially from the Republic of Western Armenia, demanding that Germany fully assume its responsibility. They recall the reparations paid to Israel (1952) and Namibia (2021) as examples.

The need to reopen historical and diplomatic discussion

The current German parliament recognized the Genocide commited afaibst Armenians  in 2016, but the resolution did not explicitly mention German complicity. Lawmakers are calling for a reopening of the debate, stressing that ignoring German participation is historically and morally unacceptable.

Symbolic and Legal Solutions

Representatives of Western Armenia state:

• 1954–2003):Duty to prevent genocide (1948 Convention),

• Right to restore one’s identity (2007 UN Declaration),

• Restitution of destroyed cultural heritage (UNESCO Conventions 1954–2003

They assure that official recognition, accompanied by an educational and commemorative program, would be the first step towards restoring justice.

A European memory that is not yet finished

Germany, until now known as a model of Shoah remembrance, still has an open problem in its attitude towards the genocide commited against Armenians. Joachim Gauck’s words from 2015 remind us that historical truth concerns not only our own crimes, but also those we contributed to.

“Germany had the courage to confront Auschwitz; now it is time to confront Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor and the Armenian emigration routes,” notes one Berlin historian.

As a result, a century later, history is knocking on Berlin’s door again. “What Germany did for the victims of Nazism and for colonized peoples should serve as an example for the Armenian people,” the delegation of the Republic of Western Armenia stated, October 2025.