Germany's Green Party leader Cem Özdemir | John Macdougall/AFP via Getty Images German politician facing death threats over Armenian genocide row: reports Germany’s Greens leader Cem Özdemir is under police protection.

Germany's Green Party leader Cem Özdemir, one of the champions of the parliamentary resolution passed Thursday calling the 1915 massacre of Armenians in Turkey a genocide, has received death threats and is now under police protection, reports Berliner Zeitung.

Özdemir, who has a Turkish background, had received insults and death threats in the past but these had become more frequent after the vote, a spokesperson for the Greens said, Reuters reports.

The spokesperson said the death threats came primarily from Turks and from Germans with Turkish roots.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recalled the country's ambassador from Berlin following the resolution and declared it "had no value." Turkey accepts Armenians were killed during World War One, but rejects the genocide label.

Erdoğan directly attacked Cem Özdemir on Sunday, though he did not refer to him by name, Die Welt reports.

"Here comes a know-it-all and prepares something, which he presents to the parliament. A Turk, say some. Really, a Turk. He should have his blood tested in a lab," Erdoğan said.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ also raged at German MPs with Turkish origins on Twitter, saying: "People with spoiled mother's milk, with spoiled blood, can never represent the Turkish nation."

This story was updated with more information.