“I would like to congratulate Selmin Çalışkan on assuming the office of Secretary General at Amnesty International. I look forward to working with her. The 120,000 Germans who are Amnesty members demonstrate what high regard the organization enjoys in this country. I share that regard for Amnesty International. It is an important associate to the German Government and a reliable partner to everyone working to see human rights respected around the world.
I would also like to thank Ms Çalışkan’s predecessor, Wolfgang Grenz, for the close and productive cooperation we have enjoyed, as well as for his decades of dedicated work in the interests of human rights. I wish Mr Grenz all the very best for his retirement and hope that we will remain able to count on him as a champion of human rights.”