Berlin: Top politicians attacked a senior
official from Germany's central bank on Sunday after comments
about Jews, the latest in a string of controversial remarks
that have provoked a storm in the country.
Thilo Sarrazin, a member of the six-man board at the
powerful Bundesbank, told the Welt am Sonntag weekly: "All
Jews share a particular gene, Basques share particular genes,
that differentiate them from others."
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who is also Germany's
vice-chancellor, condemned the remarks, telling the Bild am
Sonntag weekly: "Comments that promote racism or anti-Semitism
do not belong in the political debate."
The country's popular defence minister, Karl-Theodor zu
Guttenberg, told the same paper: "Every provocation has its
limits ... Sarrazin has clearly overstepped these limits."
Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman has also criticised
Sarrazin, 65, who is promoting a new book due to appear on
Monday and has been front-page news in the country with
provocative remarks on race and integration.
In October, he also hit the headlines after saying that
Turks were "conquering Germany in exactly the same way the
Kosovars conquered Kosovo: with a higher birth rate."
"A large number of Arabs and Turks in this city (Berlin)
... have no productive function other than selling fruit and
vegetables," he added.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, August 29, 2010, 23:50