German Communists back Armenian genocide bill

BREMEN, GERMANY – Germany‘s ‘Die Linke’ party (ex-PDS), during its Congress yesterday, sharply criticized one of its leading members, Hakki Keskin, for denying the Armenian Genocide.

The comments by Mr. Keskin, the former president of the German Turkish
Central Council, generated outrage within his party and drew condemnations
from Conservatives, Socialists and even German Greens.

In order to distance itself from Keskin’s denials – and restore its standing
as a party dedicated to human rights – the leftist party led by Oskar
Lafontaine and Grygor Gysi published a press release reaffirming, for the
record, that “the fact of the Armenian people’s extermination [by the
Turkish Ottoman government] is not a subject to be questioned” and that “the
resolution adopted by the Bundestag in 2005 concerning this issue
constitutes the basis of the Die Linke party’s position.”

Despite this clear renunciation, Mr. Keskin said that he continues to deny
this crime against humanity. He then associated himself with Bodo Ramelow,
the vice-president of the Die Linke party, who believes that, rather than
focusing on the Armenian Genocide, it would be better to draw attention to
the Turkish population’s suffering during the World War I.

“The European Armenian Federation is pleased that the Die Linke party, in
affirming its official position, has returned to the mainstream view among
German political parties condemning Turkey’s denial of the Armenian
Genocide,” said Laurent Leylekian, the Executive Director of the European
Armenian Federation.

“We remain troubled by the attempts – very common among deniers – at an
artificial even-handedness that would equate the suffering of all
populations during World War I – including the people of Turkey – with
Ottoman Turkey’s planned, systematic, and brutal campaign to destroy its
Armenian population,” added Leylekian.

The European Armenian Federation welcomes the vigilance of Germany‘s civil
society – and particularly the German Armenians Central Council – in
monitoring and challenging genocide denial. Thanks to their action, the Die
Linke party ended the abuse of their good name by genocide deniers and
returned to their traditional support for justice and moral public policy.