Germany, Turkey aim to improve ties but no Nazi comparisons – Gabriel

“When the Turkish president and his foreign minister say that today’s Germany is worse than Nazi Germany, I can not accept it”. “This is what we see as unacceptable. a very risky trend”, he said.

“This tension serves Erdogan’s referendum campaign”, said Ahmet Insel, a political scientist and academic. A larger scheduled rally had earlier been banned.

Behind the scenes, official German annoyance is tempered by a real fear that European retaliation will push away Turkey for good – into other alliances.

Comparisons with Nazi Germany are “lines that should not be crossed”, the German foreign minister has warned his Turkish counterpart as they met to try to defuse a bitter row.

Following tension escalated between Germany and Turkey over the latter’s insistence to carry on political campaign to persuade Turks overseas for “yes” vote in April 16 referendum, Turkish government gets into diplomatic unrest with the Netherlands in the meantime.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel arrives to attend a foreign defense affairs council at the European Council, in Brussels, on March 6, 2017.

“We are in a state of great fear”, Cavusoglu said. But if they approach us with hostility, we’ll give the necessary response…

German authorities have angered Turkish officials following a series of canceled meetings and public appearances in the country.

“We believe this is a systematic obstacle to our government”.

Traditionally pro-Erdogan, with 60 per cent backing the president in the last general election, the Turkish-German vote could be crucial in tipping next month’s referendum result. “We would not allow lobbying for North Korea or Saudi Arabia in our country either”, he said, calling for the entire Turkish cabinet to be declared “persona non grata”.

She highlighted German-Turkish ties such as North Atlantic Treaty Organisation membership and the fight against terrorism.

Mass detentions have alarmed Europe, which has urged Ankara to respect freedoms. “He seeks external enemies useful in domestic politics to win his referendum”, Omid Nouripour, an MP and foreign policy spokesman for the German Green party, told Germany’s Bild daily.

Ankara is furious over the cancellation of several rallies by Turkish ministers in Germany, while Berlin has demanded the immediate release of a Turkish-German journalist detained on terrorism charges.

Ulf Porschard, editor-in-chief of Die Welt, the German newspaper that employed Yücel, wrote a letter in both Turkish and German saying, “You can change that”.