After being greeted by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on Friday, Merkel went to the Tsitsernakaberd hilltop memorial. She laid a wreath at the monument commemorating the victims of what Armenia describes as the 1915 genocide against 1.5 million people carried out as the Ottoman Empire disintegrated during World War I. "We understand what atrocities were committed against countless Armenians," Merkel said. "This suffering should not and will not be forgotten." In June 2016, the German parliament passed a resolution recognizing the massacres as genocide. It also acknowledged that Germany, a military ally of Ottoman Turkey, made no effort to stop the killings. Merkel said she had visited the Tsitsernakaberd memorial "in the spirit of the Bundestag 2016 resolution," saying it was an "important step in the culture of remembrance" but clarified that the language used was a political, not a legal classification. DW's Chief Political Editor Michaela Kuefner was at the ceremony. Turkey has always denied extermination of the ethnic Armenian population and disputed the term genocide, saying that they died in smaller numbers and due to civil conflict rather than a planned Ottoman program of killings. The German and Armenian delegations discussed a variety of topics Praise for Armenia It was Merkel's first meeting with Pashinyan, who was elected in May. "Over the past months we have been following the developments in your country, the peaceful protests and the 'velvet revolution,'" Merkel said. "We spoke about bilateral relations, as well Armenia's relations with the EU." While playing down the chances of negotiations between the Eurasian Economic Union and the EU, Merkel said Armenia could show how good relations with Russia and the EU were possible. Merkel is on a tour of three former Soviet republics: first Georgia, now Armenia, and finally Azerbaijan. jm/msh (Reuters, dpa) Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.<doc-sep>Slideshow ( 10 images ) YEREVAN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday addressed the massacre of as many as 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 after meeting with the country’s prime minister, saying the atrocities committed against Armenians should not and would not be forgotten. Merkel avoided using the term “genocide” in her remarks, sidestepping a possible repeat of tensions that flared with Turkish President Tayyap Erdogan after the German parliament in 2016 branded the massacre a genocide. Merkel called the 2016 remembrance ceremony by the Bundestag an “important step in the culture of remembrance” but stressed that the language used was a political - not legal - classification. “We understand what atrocities were committed against countless Armenians. This suffering should not and will not be forgotten,” she said.<doc-sep>German Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to visit the Caucasus states of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan following her meetings outside of Berlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on August 17 that Merkel will begin the Caucasus trip with a stop in Georgia on August 23. She will then proceed to Armenia and finally to Azerbaijan, he added. The trip will come after Merkel is scheduled to meet with Putin at the German government's guest house outside Berlin on August 18. Pro-Western Georgia has aspirations of joining the European Union and NATO as protection against Russian aggression. Georgia fought brief a war with Russia 10 years ago, and Moscow's continued military presence on the country's territory adds to tensions in the region. The conflict, which Tbilisi and Moscow accuse one another of starting, left hundreds dead and drove thousands from their homes. After the war, Russia left thousands of troops in South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, and recognized both as independent countries. Last month, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated support for Georgia's membership at a meeting in Brussels, but he did not provide a time frame. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev issued a stern warning to NATO that Georgia's joining the Western military alliance could lead to a "horrible" new conflict. Merkel's stops in Yerevan and Baku are likely to take up topics such as Azerbaijan's energy resources and efforts to secure deals to maintain supplies to Europe and the often-bloody dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh between the two neighbors. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked for years in hostilities over the Azerbaijani territory that was seized by Armenian-backed forces during a war that killed more than 30,000 people before a 1994 cease-fire. Sporadic fighting continues and three decades of diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, whose claim to independence has not been recognized by any country, have brought little progress. Merkel's visit to Yerevan will also allow the German leader to meet with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, the former anticorruption campaigner and opposition politician who was elected to the premiership in May after weeks of mass protests against corruption and cronyism. With reporting by dpa, Vestnik Kavkaza, and RFE/RL's Armenian Service<doc-sep>German Chancellor Angela Merkel held what she called "intensive" discussions with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in talks that addressed energy cooperation, human rights, and the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The meeting between Merkel and Aliyev in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, on August 25 included a discussion of the human rights situation in the South Caucasus nation that the German chancellor said was conducted in an "open atmosphere," Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said on Twitter. Critics accuse Aliyev's government of carrying out a targeted crackdown on dissent in recent years, though the Azerbaijani leader has repeatedly rejected such criticism. "We discussed the issue of the domestic situation in Azerbaijan and addressed human rights, also in a very open atmosphere," Merkel said, according to a transcript of her press conference with Aliyev released by her office. "We did not find common ground on all issues. But I argued that a strong civil society must be part of an open, secular society and made clear that we would like to see this strong civil society," Merkel added. Merkel's stop in Baku on August 25 -- the final leg of a three-day tour to South Caucasus that included visits to Georgia and Armenia -- also included a meeting with rights activists and the prominent Azerbaijani investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, a former RFE/RL contributor. Ismayilova, who spent nearly 18 months in jail on charges widely viewed as retaliation for her investigative reporting before her release in May 2016, wrote on Facebook following the meeting that she spoke to Merkel "about corruption and how it undermines peace, democracy, and security in Azerbaijan." "I asked to be more outspoken on human rights and democracy issues because people here need to see examples of European politicians who aren't silenced by corruption money," she wrote. Merkel "said our concerns are important and some have been addressed in the meeting she had with President Aliyev. I hope to hear more from her," Ismayilova wrote. Azerbaijan's opposition, as well as Western officials and international human rights groups, have accused Aliyev's government of persecuting opposition politicians, activists, independent media outlets, and journalists, often using what they allege are trumped-up criminal charges. Aliyev, who has repeatedly shrugged off accusations of corruption and stifling dissent, defended his government's record on human rights during an August 25 news conference alongside Merkel, saying Baku "is committed to democratic values." "All democratic institutions exist in Azerbaijan. All the liberties have been provided, in particular, freedom of speech, freedom of the press. There are hundreds of media outlets in Azerbaijan, including opposition media. Thereby, no one is being persecuted for the criticism [of the authorities] or for the [critical] views in Azerbaijan," Aliyev said. The two leaders also discussed energy cooperation between Europe and Azerbaijan, where Aliyev has ruled the nation of almost 10 million people with an iron fist since 2003. Addressing a business roundtable in Baku on August 25, Merkel described Azerbaijan as "an important partner in the diversification of our energy supply within the European Union," according to a transcript released by her office. Nagorno-Karabakh Merkel also said that Berlin could assist in mediating the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. "Germany wants to help find peaceful solutions," Merkel told reporters, adding that the conflict over the mountainous territory is a significant burden on the region. The region, populated mainly by ethnic Armenians, declared independence from Azerbaijan amid a 1988-94 war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Since 1994, Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces which Baku says include troops supplied by Armenia. The region's claim to independence has not been recognized by any country. Internationally mediated negotiations involving the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) helped forge a cease-fire in the region, which is not always honored, but have failed to produce a lasting settlement of the conflict. In Yerevan a day earlier, Merkel told reporters that "it is important that the conflict is resolved peacefully" and that Germany "stands ready" to contribute to a solution. Merkel noted that Germany is a member of the OSCE's Minsk Group and that "we stand ready to assume responsibility within the framework of the Karabakh settlement process." With reporting by DPA, Azernews, DW.com, and TASS<doc-sep>
YEREVAN -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has described Ottoman-Era mass killings of Armenians as “heinous crimes against Armenians," which "cannot and must not be forgotten.” Merkel, who arrived in Armenia from neighboring Georgia on the second leg of her three-country visit to the South Caucasus, made the statement following a visit to a memorial dedicated to the victims of what Armenia describes as genocide. After being greeted at Yerevan’s airport by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Merkel traveled to the Tsitsernakaberd hilltop complex to lay a wreath at the monument dedicated to the World War I-era dead. Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed during World War I as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, a claim supported by many other countries. Germany's parliament recognized the massacres as genocide in a resolution overwhelmingly adopted in June 2016. It also acknowledged that Germany, then a military ally of Ottoman Turkey, did nothing to stop the killings. Merkel avoided using the term "genocide" in her remarks, apparently sidestepping an escalation of tensions similar to that in June 2016, when Turkey reacted furiously to the resolution, recalling its ambassador in Berlin. Successive Turkish governments have for decades vehemently denied a premeditated effort to exterminate the ethnic Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey says Armenians died in much smaller numbers and because of civil strife rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate the Christian ethnic minority. Nagorno-Karabakh Before the trip, Merkel's office said, that during her stop in Armenia and subsequent visit to Azerbaijan on August 25, the chancellor would encourage efforts to reach "a peaceful and consensual solution" to the two countries' long-running territorial conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. In Yerevan, Merkel told reporters that "it is important that the conflict is resolved peacefully" and that Germany "stands ready" to contribute to a solution. Merkel noted that Germany is a member of the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which was established to help find a solution to the conflict and that "we stand ready to assume responsibility within the framework of the Karabakh settlement process." Nagorno-Karabakh, populated mainly by ethnic Armenians, declared independence from Azerbaijan amid a 1988-94 war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Since 1994, it has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces that Baku says include troops supplied by Armenia, and international efforts to mediate the dispute have failed. The stop in Yerevan marked Merkel's first official meeting with Pashinian, the former anticorruption campaigner and opposition politician who was elected to the premiership in May after weeks of mass protests against corruption and cronyism. She told reporters after the meeting that German leaders "followed the events in Armenia and the velvet revolution [that led to Pashinian’s election]." She said she spoke with Pashinian about both bilateral relations and those within the framework of the European Union. "Our relations can develop in the economic and cultural fields" and that cooperation can be increased in cultural, education, and IT matters, she said. Merkel also met with President Armen Sarkisian, telling him Germany wants "to be involved in the reforms" announced by the new government. "We have closely watched the changes and processes ongoing in your country. We stand ready to continue cooperating on this difficult but important way," she was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. Sarkisian said that "Germany is a very important partner for Armenia. I cannot fail to mention also Germany's political assistance, which we feel in the process of our cooperation with the EU, as relations with the EU are of very great significance to us." Armenia has pursued a delicate balancing act over the past decade, maintaining strong ties with Moscow while also developing relations with the European Union. During her visit to pro-Western Georgia, Merkel said she backed Tbilisi's aspirations to eventually join the EU and NATO, but said she was not able to provide "hasty promises" and that EU membership was not on the "current agenda."