Turkish army rules out ‘anti-Erdogan’ coup

German satirical TV show hits back at Turkey’s president

ISTANBUL, March 31, (Agencies): The Turkish army says it has no plans to stage a coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and has threatened legal action against anyone who suggests otherwise.

The rare statement aims to squash speculation over the possibility of a military coup in Turkey as the president visits the United States. The military said on its website such “baseless news” was hurting morale in its ranks without naming specific publications.

The Turkish army, historically seen as a defender of secular principles, has ousted three elected governments and one prime minister. The institution saw its power reduced through a series of measures after Erdogan came to power as prime minister in 2003. Now the country’s president, Erdogan is due to return to Turkey on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a German satirical TV show that sparked a diplomatic row with Turkey over media freedom has fired another salvo by re-broadcasting a song lampooning President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- with Turkish subtitles.

“Perhaps Erdogan didn’t understand the piece,” presenter Christian Ehring said of the tune “Erdowie, Erdowo, Erdogan” that ridicules the president, his alleged extravagant spending and crackdown on civil liberties.

“So here it is again, this time with Turkish subtitles,” Ehring said in Wednesday night’s screening of the “extra 3” programme on regional public broadcaster NDR, hailing Erdogan as Turkey’s “greatest comedian”.

Ankara last week called in the German ambassador to protest at the song and demanded it be pulled off the air.

The spiralling controversy has made the two-minute clip a YouTube hit viewed millions of times.

Ehring quipped that if Erdogan, the show’s new “employee of the month”, wanted to hear critical views, he should watch “extra 3”, and that “if he doesn’t want criticism, he better meet the chancellor” Angela Merkel.

Merkel’s government has drawn fire over its delayed pub- lic response to the spat and its reluctance to directly criticise Erdogan, with the EU relying on Turkey to limit the flow of migrants to Europe.

Merkel’s spokeswoman said Wednesday that Berlin’s ambassador to Ankara had made clear to his Turkish counterparts that values such as freedom of expression “are nonnegotiable”.