On the evening of Wednesday, May 24th, the Pomegranate monument to the victims of the Genocide against Armenians with the inscription “This pain is for all of us” was again removed by order of the Cologne municipality. 

As we have reported in previous articles, the district governor’s office has announced that from March 2023 to April 2024

It is more than shameful that an organization that ignores the privilege granted to its own officials, to the district administration, has now backed down in the face of Turkish denial. The owners of the initiative and the Armenian community of Cologne will continue to fight. The online haGalil, which covers familiar Jewish life in Germany, cites an article about the Cologne monument that appeared in the Turkish daily Hürriyet in early May. According to this and other sources, 50 representatives of Turkish non-governmental organizations in and around Cologne, notorious for denying history, demanded the removal of the Armenian monument, stating that it “disturbs public order, social peace and is an attack on public order and the culture of social reconciliation.”

Of course, the Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Recker, has longed for such statements and has always observed a moment of silence to ensure that the voices of Turkish denialists are never silenced.

The spirit of condemning denial is in line with the Bundestag resolution of June 2, 2016.

The government of Western Armenia regrets the similar behavior of Germany, one of the most important states in Europe. We believe that such behavior is related to the secret agreements between Germany and Turkey during the First World War. Despite the passage of 100 years, states are not able to move away from their past and put forward an independent policy. We hope that Germany, which has found the strength to apologize and pay reparations to the Jewish people, will condemn the genocide committed against Armenians by its ancient ally, Turkey, and place the memorial to the martyrs in Cologne in the same place where it was placed.