German Communists Condemned Hakki Keskin for Denying Armenian Genocide

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. As PanARMENIAN.Net came to know from the European Armenian Federation, 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.