A conservative ally of chancellor Angela Merkel has broken ranks and, after renewed provocation from Ankara, vowed to ban rallies by Turkish politicians in Germany ahead of next month’s controversial constitutional referendum.
Over the last two weeks, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched provocative remarks in the direction of the Netherlands and Germany, suggesting “Nazi practices” had led to the cancellation of recent rallies for the countries’ Turkish minorities.
On Tuesday, Mr Erdogan suggested Dutch UN peacekeepers’ failure to prevent a massacre of Muslim men in Bosnia in 1995 showed Dutch “morality” was “broken”.
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, facing an election on Wednesday, dismissed Mr Erdogan’s remarks as “increasingly more hysterical hour by hour” and told the BBC: “I want him to . . . calm down.”
Dr Merkel has dismissed Turkish Nazi comparisons as “disqualifying themselves”, but has come under fresh attack from Mr Erdogan for, in his view, “supporting terrorists”.
In a television appearance, the Turkish president made references to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), deemed a terrorist organisation by Turkey and the EU, and accused Berlin of not responding to 4,500 dossiers sent by Turkey on PKK suspects in Germany.
“Mrs Merkel, why are you hiding terrorists in your country? Why are you not doing anything?” Mr Erdogan said.
Dr Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, dismissed the latest claims as “absurd”, adding: “The chancellor does not intend to participate in a provocation contest.”
‘Testing the limits’
Her interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, also dismissed such claims, saying German authorities had acted on thousands of PKK tip-offs. The German minister suggested Mr Erdogan’s remarks were “testing the limits” and revealed his fears of losing next month’s vote.
Amid huge controversy in Germany, the country’s constitutional court has ruled that politicians are entitled to intervene to ban political demonstrations. Until now, however, Dr Merkel and her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) allies had agreed not to use these powers.
But with Turkish plans for at least 15 more rallies in Germany before the April 16th vote, the small western state of Saarland became the first to break rank. State premier Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, facing re-election later this month, vowed to use laws enabling her to ban foreign leaders’ campaigns “when the peaceful coexistence of Germans and foreigners is threatened”.
“Internal Turkish conflicts have no place in Germany, rallies that jeopardise the domestic peace should be outlawed,” said Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer, a senior member of Dr Merkel’s CDU.
Germany’s liberal democracy should not be a “haven from which to promote undemocratic goals”, she said, in a nod to proposed constitutional changes in Turkey that critics fear will lead to an authoritarian state.
‘Preventative measure’
Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer said she was pressing ahead with a ban she hoped would serve as a model for other German states and the EU. However, her staff confirmed the proposed ban was a “preventative measure”, as no Turkish rallies have so far been announced for the tiny state of Saarland, on the border with Luxembourg.
Meanwhile, Mr Erdogan vowed further measures against the Netherlands after suspending high-level diplomatic ties in protest against Dutch hindering of two rallies involving Turkish ministers.
After banning the Dutch ambassador from returning to Turkey, Mr Erdogan said “many other things could be done against the Netherlands”.
“We will show those who think they can get away with an apology that they are making a mistake,” said Mr Erdogan, vowing to take the Dutch rally ban to the European Court of Human Rights.
Following riots in the Netherlands on Sunday outside Turkish diplomatic buildings, European officials have called on Turkey to moderate its language and avoid further escalating the dispute.
