Turkey, Germany must rebuild friendship ‘step by step’: German FM

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on March 9 that “profound differences” have overtaken the many common interests shared by Germany and Turkey, and called for efforts to change that.

But she supported the “decisions that were taken”.

Tensions are likely to increase further after a German local authority Monday canceled at the last minute the use of a venue for a referendum meeting by Turkey’s energy minister, Taner Yildiz.

The government was keeping a low profile on Thursday, saying only that it was reviewing a request by financial capital Zurich to block a planned weekend appearance by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for security reasons.

He was speaking from the balcony of Turkey’s consular residence in Hamburg on Tuesday evening after the building originally scheduled for the rally was closed by authorities.

“Rather Germany should take steps to get rid of the restrictions we are now facing in terms of the access we have to millions of voters living in those countries”, he said. “These current practices of yours are no different than the Nazi practices of the past”.

Swiss government statistics show around 68,000 Turkish citizens live in Switzerland, a nation of 8.3 million whose population is a quarter foreign.

With an eye on the European Union summit, Dr Merkel renewed her call for willing member states to proceed with inclusive – not exclusive – enhanced co-operation on areas of common interest, in particular military partnership.

“This is systematic obstruction, and Germany is applying systematic pressure on our citizens”.

“As hard as everything is at the moment, as unacceptable as some things are, it can’t be in our security and geopolitical interest that Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation partner after all, grows even more distant from us”, she told parliament. Ankara accused Berlin and other European capitals of being tardy and weak in condemning the putschists.

Germany has suggested it may not extradite suspects wanted by Turkey in cases it considers politically motivated, which has prompted Mr Erdogan to accuse Germany of having “become a shelter” for terrorists and for having no regard for other countries’ national security issues. We are planning around 30 rallies.

More than 41,000 people have been arrested since the coup, including scores of journalists.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert also described Erdogan’s comments as absurd, but added that people had to remain “calm and level-headed”.

Germany is demanding his immediate release.

Geert Wilders, the leader of the anti-immigrant and anti-EU PVV party, organised a protest outside the Turkish embassy in The Hague on Wednesday.

Immigrants “from Turkey have played an incredible part in building prosperity in our country”, he said. “Nobody has the right to prevent your will”, Erdogan said.