Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently hinted that his regime may execute the 13,000 people believed to be tied to the failed military coup in the country. Bundestag Deputy Cem Ozdemir on Sunday urged Europe to react, and not just rhetorically, but with sanctions for violations of basic human rights in Turkey.
"When democracy, rule of law and human rights are ignored, the EU should consider sanctions against those in power. For instance, we can freeze accounts and assets," Ozdemir suggested in an interview with Bild am Sonntag.
He added that there is a threat coming from Turkish nationalists living in Germany who are exposed to Ankara’s influence and that these radical groups should be taken seriously by German politicians.
"There is, unfortunately, a form of Turkish PEGIDA [anti-immigration movement] in Germany that we must treat the same way as the group we already know of," He told the newspaper.
Ozdemir explained that if PEGIDA leader Lutz Bachmann were invited to an event, no "self-respecting democrat" would attend, and he believes that the same attitude should be applied to Turkish President.
Cem Ozdemir previously reported receiving death threats from Turkish nationalists who were angered with him putting forward the resolution to acknowledge the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire.
The German parliament voted to recognize the 1915-1916 massacre of Armenians as "genocide", which caused outrage on the part of Ankara. Particularly, the President of Turkey Erdogan offered Ozdemir, who is of Turkish descent himself, to undertake a "blood test" to see "what kind of Turk he is."
