The Turkish government on Thursday summoned Germany’s ambassador to protest the cancelation of rallies in Germany in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the latest spat between the two nations.
Turkish Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag earlier scrapped a visit to Germany after the authorities blocked a rally promoting a referendum that could expand Erdogan’s powers.
“Our discomfort and our reaction to these developments have been communicated in person to the German ambassador who was summoned this evening to the ministry,” a senior Turkish official said on condition of anonymity.
The new row adds to tensions between Turkey and Germany over a number of disputes, including Ankara’s provisional detention of a German journalist on terrorism-related charges.
Bozdag was scheduled to address the Turkish community in the western German town of Gaggenau and meet his German counterpart late on Thursday.
“That meeting with [the German minister of justice] will not take place. I will return to Turkey,” Bozdag said while on an official visit to Strasbourg, in remarks carried by private television station NTV.
Gaggenau authorities withdrew an earlier agreement with the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) to hold a rally, with Bozdag as the guest speaker, saying that the hall did not have the capacity to host so many people.
“Because the event is now known across the region, the city expects a large number of visitors. However, the Bad Rotenfels hall [in Gaggenau], parking lots and access road are insufficient to meet that demand,” the town’s authorities said in a statement.
“Due to these reasons, the hall rental agreement with the UETD has been revoked,” it said.
Bozdag said the move smacked of hypocrisy.
“It is unacceptable that German authorities, who constantly lecture us about human rights, democracy, rule of law, free speech ... do not tolerate a meeting organized by the Turkish community,” he said.
Politicians, including Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, have sparked controversy over their visits to Germany to hold political rallies.
Germany is home to about 3 million people of Turkish origin, the legacy of a massive “guest worker” program in the 1960s and 1970s, the biggest population of Turks outside of Turkey.
Erdogan’s government is keen to harness their votes for the April 16 referendum, which would discard the post of prime minister for the first time in Turkey’s history.
The Turkish government says the changes would bring stability, while critics say the new presidential system would cement one-man rule in the country.
Separately, Cologne city authorities said they would no longer allow the UETD to use a hall tomorrow, when Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci was expected to speak.
“The event can and will not happen there,” a spokeswoman for Cologne authorities reporters, citing difficulties guaranteeing security at such short notice.
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