Turkish president thanks gesture by new German presidential candidate Gauck

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul thanked new German presidential candidate Joachim Gauck who participated in the memorial devoted to 8 Turks, 1 Greek and 1 female police officer killed by the far-right German terror group National Socialist Underground or NSU. Gul called Gauck on the phone on Thursday and said that his participation in the memorial was a good gesture. Gul also wished luck to Gauck in the election, and expressed belief that the warm and close relations, which were established with former German president Christian Wulff, would continue with Gauck too. Earlier today, a memorial took place in German capital of Berlin to remember the 10 people including eight Turks who were killed by right-wing extremist group in Germany. A minute of silence was held across the country to remember the victims. The memorial was attended by around 1,200 dignitaries, including the family members of the victims, new German presidential candidate Gauck, deputies, Turkish Ambassador in Berlin Huseyin Avni Karslioglu and members of the Turkish Parliamentary Human Rights Watch Commission led by a Justice and Development (AK) Party deputy from Sakarya province Ayhan Sefer Ustun. NSU is a far-right German terror group which was uncovered in November 2011. The neo-Nazi serial murders, a murder series of nine Turkish and Greek immigrants between September 9, 2000 and April 6, 2006, the murder of a policewoman and the 2004 Cologne bombing have been attributed to the NSU. The Attorney General of Germany called the NSU a "right-wing extremist group", who have the purpose to "kill out of xenophobic and anti-state sentiments all citizens of foreign origin".