The German government will support a resolution later this week, describing the massacre of around 1.5mn Armenians in 1915 as a genocide, according to Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert.
"The government backs the draft resolution ... in which the fate of the Armenians during World War One serves as an example of the history of mass murders, ethnic cleansings, expulsions and, yes, the genocides during the 20th century," Mr Seibert said according to Reuters.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had earlier rejected using the word genocide, in an interview with public broadcaster ARD TV on Sunday, and denied it was to avoid upsetting Turkey.
"Responsibility can't be reduced to a single term," he said.
Millions of ethnic Turks live in Germany and the country is also Turkey’s largest trade partner in the EU.
The Turkish government has vehemently rejected the term, including its recent use by Pope Francis.
"It's a striking contradiction by the German government that Germany is denying the genocide of Armenians," said Ayata Bilgin, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University.
"Research has shown that external pressure on countries can have a considerable influence and Germany could play a very important role in this discussion on Turkey."
Germany itself is accused by some of having committed genocide during its colonial rule in Namibia, where tens of thousands of Herero and Nama were killed during an uprising.
The parliament in 2012 rejected an opposition motion calling on the government to acknowledge the genocide.
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