Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel of using ‘Nazi measures’ as a war of words threatens to spiral out of control.
In a speech broadcast on television yesterday Erdogan said: ‘When we call them Nazis they (Europe) get uncomfortable. They rally together in solidarity. Especially Merkel.
‘But you are right now employing Nazi measures,’ Erdogan said, referring to Merkel.
‘Against who? My Turkish brother citizens in Germany and brother ministers,’ he added, in a reference to Turkish politicians who had planned to hold campaign rallies among Turkish nationals in Germany in the run-up to the referendum on constitutional changes.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Erdogan had gone too far and described his comments as ‘shocking’.
Mr Gabriel told the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper: ‘We are tolerant but we’re not stupid. That’s why I have let my Turkish counterpart know very clearly that a boundary has been crossed here.’
Tensions between Ankara and the European Union have worsened dramatically in the run up to a referendum in Turkey on April 16 which proposes to give President Erdogan even greater powers. Critics say it will erode democracy and create a virtual dictatorship.
Germany and the Netherlands have both refused to allow Turkish ministers to enter their countries to campaign for a ‘yes’ vote among Turkish nationals.
Erdogan and the Turkish press have reacted furiously, with the nationalist daily Gunes depicting Merkel on its front page in Nazi uniform with a Hitler-style moustache.
The newspaper described her as ‘Frau Hitler’ and called her an ‘ugly aunt’.
Julia Klöckner, the vice-president of Merkel’s CDU party, reacted angrily to Erdogan’s comments.
She said: ‘Has Mr Erdogan lost his mind?’ and urged the EU to freeze ‘financial aid amounting to billions of euros’ which has been promised to Turkey as part of a deal to tackle the migration crisis.
On Thursday Turkey’s interior minister Suleyman Soylu threatened to ‘blow the mind’ of Europe by sending 15,000 refugees a month into the EU.
The landmark deal signed by Ankara and Brussels last March has substantially lessened the flow of migrants from Turkey to Europe but Mr Soylu warned Europe not to ‘play games’ or ‘ignore Turkey’.
Germany is home to 1.4 million Turkish voters and Erdogan’s speech yesterday seems to have been provoked by a rally in Frankfurt by those urging a ‘no’ vote in the referendum, where protesters brandished the insignia of the outlawed PKK Kurdish rebels.
Referring to the incident, Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin said: ‘Germany put its name under another scandal.’
The Turkish foreign ministry accused the German authorities ‘of the worst example of double standards’ for allowing the pro-Kurdish protest while preventing Turkish ministers from campaigning in Germany.
Ankara also reacted with indignation after Germany’s intelligence chief said he was unconvinced by Turkish assertions that US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen was behind the failed July coup aimed at overthrowing Erdogan.
Kalin said Europe was seeking to ‘whitewash’ Gulen’s group, while Defence Minister Fikri Isik said the comments raised questions about whether Berlin itself was involved in the putsch.
‘The fact that the head of German intelligence made such a statement will increase doubts about Germany and give rise to the question ‘was German intelligence behind the coup?’,’ he said.
Erdogan has repeatedly accused Germany and the Netherlands of acting like ‘Nazis’, and claimed Merkel is ‘supporting terrorists’.
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