German MPs advised not to visit Turkey

  12 June 2016    Read: 1140
German MPs advised not to visit Turkey
Germany`s Foreign Ministry has advised lawmakers with a Turkish background to avoid going to Turkey in the near future. Politicians of Turkish origin are facing a backlash over a Bundestag vote on the Armenian genocide.
An internal assessment from the German Foreign Office said the safety of parliamentarians traveling to Turkey could not be guaranteed, AzVision.az reports citing news magazine "Der Spiegel".

The warning followed Ankara`s angry reaction to the Bundestag`s adoption of an `Armenian genocide` resolution last week.

Following the vote, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at the 11 politicians of Turkish descent from the CDU, SPD, Greens and the Left party who had backed the motion. He accused them of siding with the outlawed Kurdish militant PKK and suggested their blood was "tainted."

Threats to safety

Green Party co-leader Cem Özdemir, who spearheaded the vote, has reported receiving dozens of death threats from Turkish nationalists. He is under police protection and has boosted security around his Berlin home.

"Der Spiegel" said a number of Bundestag officials with Turkish heritage had canceled business trips to Ankara and summer vacation plans on the Bosphorus.

Germany`s Integration Commissioner Aydan Özoguz, of the Social Democratic Party, said the developments were unfortunate. "It is indescribable knowing that it`s not possible to fly there at the moment," he said. "Erdogan needs to understand that we are not an extension of Turkey."

Sevim Dagdelen, a Left party MP, called on the German government to take action. "Merely issuing a travel warning to us deputies isn`t enough," she told AFP, adding that the ruling coalition should hit Turkish officials behind attacks on German MPs with an entry ban.

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