The row has further soured relations between the two Nato members amid mounting public outrage in Germany over the arrest in Turkey of Deniz Yucel, a Turkish-German journalist. It has also spurred growing demands for Mrs Merkel to produce a more forceful response to Mr Erdogan’s words and actions.
Erdogan accuses Germany of behaving ‘like Nazis’
Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan accused Germany on Sunday of “fascist actions” reminiscent of Nazi times in a growing row over the cancellation of political rallies aimed at drumming up support for him among 1.5 million Turkish citizens in Germany, reports Reuters.
German politicians reacted with shock and anger. German justice minister Heiko Maas told broadcaster ARD that Mr Erdogan’s comments were “absurd, disgraceful and outlandish” and designed to provoke a reaction from Berlin.
But he cautioned against banning Mr Erdogan from visiting Germany or breaking off diplomatic ties, saying that such moves would push Ankara “straight into the arms of (Russian President Vladmir) Putin, which no one wants”.
The deputy leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party said the Turkish president was “reacting like a wilful child that cannot have his way”, while a top leader of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party described Mr Erdogan as the “despot of the Bosphorus” and demanded an apology.
German authorities withdrew permission last week for two rallies by Turkish citizens in German cities at which Turkish ministers were to urge a “Yes” vote in a referendum next month on granting Mr Erdogan sweeping new presidential powers. Berlin says the rallies were cancelled on security grounds.
However, Turkish economy minister Nihat Zeybekci spoke at large events in Leverkusen and Cologne on Sunday while protesters stood outside.
“Germany, you have no relation whatsoever to democracy and you should know that your current actions are no different to those of the Nazi period,” Mr Erdogan said at a rally in Istanbul. “When we say that, they get disturbed. Why are you disturbed?”
Mr Erdogan, accused by critics of increasingly authoritarian tendencies, has accused Germany of harbouring enemies of Turkey, from Kurdish militants to coup organisers.
He has been sharply criticised in western Europe for mass dismissals and arrests of suspected conspirators, from judges to journalists. Germany has demanded the release of a German journalist arrested in Turkey on Monday whom Mr Erdogan described as a “German agent”.
