Merkel" (the German Foreign Minister and Chancellor) and demanded a public apology from the Senator. Annen rejected American plans to supply arms to Ukrainian forces stating that it "would be a dangerous step towards the escalation of the Ukraine conflict." On the Middle East Annen has made public statements about the transnational conflict against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. In an interview with Das Parlament on 15 September 2014, he underlined the relevance of the conflict for Germany, stating that the risk of terrorist attacks had risen as the result of German IS-fighters returning from the battlefield. Moreover, he supported the supply of German arms to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces claiming that he was well aware of the danger of future misuse of the weapons but saw no other way to help defend the city of Erbil from IS forces. Annen also made the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad partially responsible for the formation and strength of Islamic State and warned of legitimizing Assad as the lesser evil in the conflict. In April 2014, Annen visited the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan to learn more about the plight of Syrians fleeing the violence in the ongoing Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011. Controversy In 2014, news media revealed that Annen had not paid taxes for his second home in Berlin during his first term as a member of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2009. References External links Wikiquote – Niels Annen 1973 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Hamburg Johns Hopkins University alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany People from Eimsbüttel Parliamentary State Secretaries of Germany