German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday urged Turkey to end Nazi accusations against her country amid the most recent tension between two countries over cancellation of political rallies of Turkish ministers inside German soil.
Merkel said the comparison with Nazi era is sad while noting the importance of Turkey as an ally.
Furious with German authorities for not allowing Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ and Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi to deliver speeches in some German towns during which the ministers would ask for support from Turkish expatriates for upcoming referendum which will introduce an executive presidency in Turkey, Erdoğan accused Germany of employing practices similar to those of the Nazi era.
“I thought that Nazism has ended in Germany. But it seems your practices are no different from the Nazi practices of the past,” he said during a speech in İstanbul on Sunday.
Underlining that the cancellations were an attempt to prevent his arrival in Germany, Erdoğan said: “I will come to Germany if I want to. If you don’t let me in or if you don’t let me speak, I will make the whole world rise up.”
On Monday, Merkel condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks likening the cancellation of several rallies by Turkish ministers in Germany to “Nazi practices.”
Merkel also asked for release of Turkish-German journalist Deniz Yücel who has been under arrest in Turkey due to alleged terrorist propaganda accusations.
Earlier during the week, Merkel accused Erdoğan of minimizing the atrocities committed by Nazi regime saying “Comparisons with Nazis always just lead to one thing – to belittle those crimes.”
“What makes it really serious – and in my opinion even rather sad – is that Nazi comparisons only ever lead to one thing, namely that the incomprehensible suffering of the victims of National Socialism is cheapened. And that’s why such statements automatically disqualify themselves,” the German chancellor said. (turkishminute.com) March 9, 2017
