The leftist faction in the Bundestag has sharply criticized anti-Israel statements made by the Turkish Foreign Minister and accused the German government of applying double standards in its approach to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration. This criticism follows the Foreign Minister’s earlier description of Israelis as a “burden” on humanity, remarks made shortly before the NATO summit beginning in Ankara on Tuesday.
Cansu Özdemir, the faction’s foreign policy spokesperson, denounced Fidan’s comments as “unacceptable rhetoric,” arguing that describing Israelis as a “burden for humanity” is dehumanizing and extremely dangerous. While acknowledging that criticism of the Netanjahu government and the ‘genocide’ in Gaza is necessary, Özdemir stressed that such criticism must never escalate into the blanket condemnation of an entire people or devolve into antisemitic resentment.
Özdemir suggested that Turkish President Erdogan engineered statements like those from Foreign Minister Fidan as part of a larger strategy. She argued that since Turkey maintained close economic ties with Israel just a few years ago, it is now leveraging the plight of Palestinians to position Erdogan as an indispensable regional player and enhance its own foreign policy stature. According to Özdemir, this clearly demonstrates how the Erdogan government instrumentalizes the Palestinian population for its political gain-a tactic she noted was not surprising given that the regime has suppressed Kurds, Alevis, opposition figures, journalists, and other minorities for decades, dismissed elected mayors, and imprisoned political opponents. She further accused the government of systematically dismantling democratic rights and being responsible for severe crimes against the Kurdish population.
She concluded by demanding: “The German government must stop measuring things differently. It needs to consistently name and condemn violations of international law and grave human rights abuses-regardless of who commits them. Silence toward NATO partners and close allies is not values-driven foreign policy; it is political hypocrisy.”
