June 2, 2016 - 13:59 AMT
Turkey "won’t nix EU migrant deal following Bundestag’s Genocide vote"

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that Turkey wouldn't nix a key deal with the European Union on curbing the flow of migrants to Europe in case the German Bundestag recognizes the Armenian Genocide, the Associated Press reports.

Germany will vote on a resolution, titled “Remembrance and commemoration of the Genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in the years 1915 and 1916” Thursday, June 2. The motion, which is backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc, their partners in the government, the Social Democrats, and the opposition Greens, looks set to pass with wide support.

Yildirim on Thursday, June 2 accused the German Parliament of using the vote to distract from unspecified domestic issues.

"At times countries that we consider to be friends come up with these bright ideas to distract attention when they fall into despair with their domestic policy," he said. "This is one of them."

Merkel spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz made clear that the chancellor supports the motion. However, she and her deputy aren’t expected to be in Parliament Thursday. Officials cited scheduling reasons, while the foreign minister was on a long-planned trip to Latin America.