ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Eleven German parliamentarians of Turkish origin have had to be placed under police protection after death threats were sent to them for supporting Germany’s decision to officially recognize the Armenian massacre as genocide earlier this month.
This has prompted German foreign ministry to warn these MPs against visiting Turkey since their lives could be at risk.
One of the MPs, the leader of Germany’s Green Party, Cem Ozdemir, told German media that he was sent an email which said: “At some point, your German friends will have forgotten that – we won’t. We will find you everywhere.”
He has been told by friends in Turkey that he should take the threats seriously.
Ozdemir said that despite the fact he has received “death threats and insults,” at least he and his colleagues are “not imprisoned” and have not had their “immunity lifted for having simply expressed what we thought, unlike our colleagues.”
The German parliament voted in favor of recognizing the mass-murder of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as genocide. Turkey argues that far fewer were killed and that no genocide occurred.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan directly singled out the eleven MPs when he asked, “What sort of Turks are they?”
The Turkish president also said those MPs should be given blood tests accusing them of being terrorists with “tainted blood.”
The mayor of Ankara said in a tweet that they had “stabbed us in the back.”
“It is unspeakable to know that it is not possible to fly there [Turkey] for now,” Aydan Ozoguz, another one of the MPs and Germany’s integration commissioner, was quoted as saying by Germany’s Der Spiegel.
“The threats against MPs of Turkish origins are unacceptable,” said Germany’s interior minister Thomas de Maiziere. “Of course security measures will be adjusted if necessary.”
Turkey recalled its ambassador from Germany in response to Germany’s recognition of the genocide.
The former Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu said on Twitter: “The German parliament has blinded itself to what happened in 1915 and placed itself in the position of a court and this is unacceptable.”
He also added that the move would poison relations between Ankara and Berlin.
“The whole world testifies to how merciful my nation has been in history,” he claimed. “I condemn this attempt to poison relations between Turkish-German nations who were allies in difficult days.”
This has prompted German foreign ministry to warn these MPs against visiting Turkey since their lives could be at risk.
One of the MPs, the leader of Germany’s Green Party, Cem Ozdemir, told German media that he was sent an email which said: “At some point, your German friends will have forgotten that – we won’t. We will find you everywhere.”
He has been told by friends in Turkey that he should take the threats seriously.
Ozdemir said that despite the fact he has received “death threats and insults,” at least he and his colleagues are “not imprisoned” and have not had their “immunity lifted for having simply expressed what we thought, unlike our colleagues.”
The German parliament voted in favor of recognizing the mass-murder of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as genocide. Turkey argues that far fewer were killed and that no genocide occurred.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan directly singled out the eleven MPs when he asked, “What sort of Turks are they?”
The Turkish president also said those MPs should be given blood tests accusing them of being terrorists with “tainted blood.”
The mayor of Ankara said in a tweet that they had “stabbed us in the back.”
“It is unspeakable to know that it is not possible to fly there [Turkey] for now,” Aydan Ozoguz, another one of the MPs and Germany’s integration commissioner, was quoted as saying by Germany’s Der Spiegel.
“The threats against MPs of Turkish origins are unacceptable,” said Germany’s interior minister Thomas de Maiziere. “Of course security measures will be adjusted if necessary.”
Turkey recalled its ambassador from Germany in response to Germany’s recognition of the genocide.
The former Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu said on Twitter: “The German parliament has blinded itself to what happened in 1915 and placed itself in the position of a court and this is unacceptable.”
He also added that the move would poison relations between Ankara and Berlin.
“The whole world testifies to how merciful my nation has been in history,” he claimed. “I condemn this attempt to poison relations between Turkish-German nations who were allies in difficult days.”
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