Erdogan lashes out at Germany over rally bans

Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said the German government “strongly rejected” the equation of modern Germany with Nazi Germany, adding that such comparisons downplayed the crimes of the Nazis.

In a separate attack, he said: “Your actions are no different from what the Nazis used to do…”

Authorities canceled two rallies in German cities last week, which were meant to garner support for Turkish citizens, on national security grounds.

The two countries’ foreign ministers are due to meet this week.

An estimated 1.5 million Turkish citizens living in Germany are eligible to vote in the poll, making them one of the largest constituencies outside Turkish cities like Istanbul. “What a shame. They do not act with their own will”, Erdoğan said.

A poll conducted by Emnid for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed that 81 percent of Germans believed the German government was too accepting of Turkey’s behavior.

“We have to take care that we don’t let ourselves be provoked”, he said.

Authorities in southwest Germany cited security reasons in cancelling the Turkish minister’s planned speech.

In a bid to defuse the row, Merkel rang Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Saturday. “We should demonstrate what we demand from others”.

A high-level meeting of Dr Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union agreed on Monday that an outright ban on campaigning Turkish politicians, a line pushed by Dutch and Austrian leaders, would be counter-productive.

Erdogan’s harsh words bring to the foreign political arena the heated climate in Turkey since a failed army attempt to topple the president in July.

Ankara says the constitutional changes would make Turkey’s presidential system resemble that of the United States and France, but Erdogan’s political opponents say the new policy would bolster his one-man rule over the country.

“Do you think that by not allowing them to speak the votes in Germany will come out “no” instead of ‘yes?'”

Kern, however, pointed out that totally cutting ties with Ankara wouldn’t be in European Union interests.

Given that much of Europe is in an election cycle, until those contests are concluded, how European leaders react to Turkey will likely remain unclear, but analysts warn that Ankara could end up paying a heavy price for its tough rhetoric.

“We support freedom of expression and we can criticise Turkey”, she told reporters.