President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Istanbul. During the joint press conference, one of the questions asked by the German reporters, which had been prepared beforehand, was directed to their head of government: “Until recently, Germany was criticizing Türkiye over its human rights violations. Has it given up on that criticism?” The reporter, who posed the question, stressed that they were speaking on behalf of the German press delegation, yet Scholz chose not to answer it. The following day, German newspapers commented that although human rights remained on the agenda, they were no longer a defining issue.
The same reporters who inquired about Türkiye’s human rights record were simultaneously demanding the resignation of the German Parliament’s deputy speaker over a social media post. They wanted the politician to pay for sharing a picture of Palestinians being burned alive as a result of Israel’s attack on Gaza, accompanied by the message: “This is Zionism.” Pressure from the Greens led to an apology, but the German media seemed to think even that wasn’t enough.
Since 2012, the Palestinian flag has been flying at the United Nations headquarters. While 145 countries have officially recognized the State of Palestine, it remains forbidden to display the Palestinian flag in Germany. Similarly, it is prohibited to criticize Israel’s genocide on German soil. To date, academics have been removed from their posts for criticizing Israel, and commentators who point out that Israel stands accused of war crimes and genocide before international courts continue to face accusations of anti-Semitism. In summary, Germany effectively silences all voices defending Palestinians.
Germany, which has imposed an arms embargo on Türkiye citing human rights concerns, remains one of the staunchest supporters of Israel’s genocide. Ironically, German reporters cannot even acknowledge Israel’s genocide as a human rights violation – let alone call it what it truly is! Yet they make no effort to hide their hypocrisy when they suggest that Türkiye’s supposed human rights violations are no longer an obstacle to arms sales. The same German journalists, who seem untroubled by the ban on criticizing Israel in their own country, dare to bring up human rights in Türkiye – simply because some individuals here are keen to entertain such criticism.
To be fair, it was Erdoğan who pointed out this hypocrisy most effectively. When he asked for “the Israeli media” to ask the second question, he immediately corrected himself: “Sorry, I meant the German media.” Germany is the last country in the world that should be criticizing others over human rights. From now on, the only appropriate response to any German statesman or reporter speaking about human rights should be to demand that Germany stop repressing and arresting people who merely criticize Israel’s genocide and war crimes. Tell them to acknowledge that genocide is a human rights violation! We can deal with everything else afterward.
