The German Foreign Ministry hired Nurhan Soykan, a woman who has defended the annual Iranian “Quds (Jerusalem) Day” rally that calls for the destruction of Israel.
Andreas Görgen, director of the Foreign Ministry’s department for culture and communication, welcomed Soykan on his Twitter feed, noting that she will be on the “Religion and Foreign Policy” team at the Foreign Ministry, reported The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told the newspaper that the “German government bemoans anti-Semitism, then appoints secretary-general of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Nurhan Soykan, as a consultant for the Foreign Ministry’s Religion and Foreign Policy team. So she can promote more anti-Semitic al-Quds marches and justify hatred of Jewish state.”
Referring to “Quds Day,” Soykan told the German radio station Deutschlandfunk in 2014 that opponents of Israeli politics “who want to show their anger sometimes” must be given the chance “to clear the air in the way of a demonstration.”
The German Foreign Ministry told the Post: “Ms. Soykan, like her Christian and Jewish colleague, will advise the Federal Foreign Office on questions of the responsibility of religious communities for peace. Ms. Soykan has represented associations and committees for many years that are dedicated to the topics of religion, understanding and integration.”
Soykan, 50, represents the German Council of Muslims, an umbrella organization that includes Islamist elements.
