German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım to congratulate him on his new title on Monday, and expressed Germany's support for Turkey's fight against terrorist groups.

During the conversation, Yıldırım expressed Turkey's concerns regarding the controversial bill brought to Germany's parliament that would call the events of 1915 the "Armenian genocide."

The prime minister also said Turkey and Turks living in Germany were concerned about the "baseless and unfair" attempt by the German parliament.

German lawmaker Albert Weiler announced on May 6 that the German parliament would consider voting on such a resolution on Thursday.

Last year, parliamentary parties had approved the resolution in principle, but sent it to committee for further work.

On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said that Germany should act with caution and reminded German deputies that the country is home to a large Turkish community. He said parliaments should not decide on history and that all countries should make documents available to historians so they can shed light on the killings.

A joint statement from Parliament's Foreign Relations Commission signed by members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), main opposition Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) condemned the German parliament's move.

The deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia in 1915 followed attacks by partisan Armenian groups on Kurdish villages in southeast Turkey, and some Armenian groups sided with the invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey rejects the labeling the deaths as "genocide" but acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians, as well as Turks, died.