AKIPRESS.COM - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Germany on Tuesday against labeling the mass death of Armenians during World War I as "genocide," a sensitive move that could damage relations at a critical juncture, reports Deutsche Welle.

German lawmakers are expected to pass the resolution on Thursday, with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and their coalition partner, the Social Democrats, as well as the Greens backing the measure.

Before heading on a trip to Africa on Tuesday, Erdogan told reporters the resolution's passage would "naturally damage future diplomatic, economic, business, political and military relations between the two countries – and we are both also NATO countries."

Erdogan also initiated a call with Merkel on Tuesday, Turkish state-run Anatolia Agency reported.

As the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, Turkey officially denies that the events that started in 1915 amounted to genocide and has lashed out at countries that have officially recognized the term.

When France formally called the displacements and killings genocide in 2011, Turkey temporarily recalled its ambassador; it did the same thing to Austria last year. It has threatened the U.S. with the closure of critical NATO bases if the U.S. Congress passes a resolution.

The German resolution comes at a time when Merkel is relying on Turkey to implement a migrant deal with the EU. The controversial deal has already faced difficulty over Turkish demands for visa-free travel to the bloc. Erdogan's allies have threatened to unleash a wave of migrants on Europe if the country's demands are not met.

It also comes amid mounting concern over human rights in Turkey, Erdogan's authoritarian bent and spillover from the war in Syria. Domestically, the resolution could stir emotions among Germany's 3 million-strong Turkish minority.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Tuesday he didn't believe passing the resolution would cause problems with Germany's Turkish community. However, he did voice popular concern that passing the resolution would trigger an unproductive response from Turkey and hamper efforts at reconciliation with Armenia.

Backing away from passing the resolution could renew criticism that Merkel is appeasing Erdogan. She has already come under criticism for allowing an investigation into a German comedian who insulted the Turkish president in a poem.

Turkey officially refers to what happened as the "Events of 1915" and denies that the massacres and deportations amounted to genocide. The official line is that ethnic Armenians represented a fifth column backed by Russia during World War I, and that the mass deportation and accompanying Armenian deaths were not premeditated or intentional – a key requirement in the legal definition of genocide.

Officials in Turkey put the number of Armenians who died at around 500,000, while Armenia puts the number at about 1.5 million out of a prewar population of some 2 million. Turkish officials also point out that hundreds of thousands of Muslims died from combat, starvation, cold and disease in eastern Anatolia during the war. Armenians have documented systematic mass murder, organized banditry, raping of women, pillaging of property and other atrocities.