United Nations, Jan. 27, 2021 – The world is again witnessing acts of religious and ethnic intolerance that led to the holocaust, President of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Amb. Volkan Bozkir, has said.
Bozkir stated this in a video message on Wednesday to mark the 2021 International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The holocaust, otherwise known as the Shoah, was the genocide carried out by the Nazi regime in Germany against the European Jews during World War II.
It saw the killing of no fewer than six million Jews, around two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population between 1941 and 1945.
“This did not happen overnight. It was in the making for centuries.
“It began as intolerance and bigotry, evolved into a systematic campaign, and ended as genocide.
“Today, we must never forget these facts.
“We must never lose sight of what went wrong and we must ensure that it never happens again,” Volkan stated.
The PGA noted that recent developments around the world were not promising, citing the rising “tide of racism, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism”.
According to him, the world is again witnessing hatred toward other minorities and religious groups.
He urged nations to uphold the truth, promote equality and protect the rights of the most vulnerable groups.
“We have to be vigilant, to call out any injustice we witness and defend pluralism.
“We have to condemn intolerance, incitement, harassment based on ethnic origin or religious belief.
“We must instill within our children an understanding, that every individual is entitled to equal dignity and inalienable human rights,” he said. (NAN)
