Turkish leaders’ comments about Nazis trivialise victims: Merkel
berlin — Comments from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish officials accusing Germany of ‘Nazi practices’ cannot be tolerated and need to stop, Chancellor Angela Merkel told Parliament on Thursday.
In her strongest comments so far about Erdogan’s statement, Merkel said the Nazi comparisons were “sad” and “so incredibly misplaced that one really can’t comment, but they cannot be justified.”
“We will not allow the victims of the Nazis to be trivialised,” she said. “These comparisons with the Nazis must stop.”
Erdogan made the comment on the weekend after several German municipalities cancelled rallies that Turkish Cabinet ministers had planned to address in support of a national referendum to give the Turkish president more powers. Officials have cited problems with overcrowding and fire safety,
it’s not in our foreign security or geopolitical interests that Turkey, still a Nato partner, becomes further distanced from us Angela Merkel,
German chancellor
and other issues About 1.4 million people of Turkish descent living in Germany are eligible to vote in the referendum.
Even though irritation with the Turkish rhetoric has been increasing, Merkel defended that stance to critics in Parliament who have pushed for an outright ban on any Turkish campaigning in Germany.
“We do this on the basis of our values: Freedom of expression, freedom of the Press, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly,” she said. “These values apply, and they also guide us when it comes to whether Turkish politicians can appear in our country.”
The strife comes at a time when the European Union is relying on a deal with Turkey that has significantly cut down the number of migrants crossing into Europe. Erdogan has several times threatened to quit the deal when expressing anger at the actions of European countries.
Merkel emphasised the need to balance those issues with the current problems, telling lawmakers it’s “an extremely difficult tightrope walk.”
“As difficult as everything is at the moment, and as unacceptable as some things are, it’s not in our foreign security or geopolitical interests that Turkey, still a Nato partner, becomes further distanced from us,” she told Parliament.
“We therefore need to work hard on the German-Turkish relationship, but on the basis of our values and our ideas,” she said.