Turkey’s leader slams Europe at WWI memorial event

ISTANBUL — Cheered by flag-waving supporters, Turkey’s president turned a commemoration of a World War I campaign into a political rally Saturday, slamming Europe and declaring that a constitutional referendum next month on whether to expand his powers will enhance Turkey’s place in the world.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan outlined his vision at a stadium ceremony in the Aegean port of Canakkale, near where Ottoman armies held off an Allied expeditionary force in 1915-1916, an event that helps to underpin staunch nationalism in Turkey today.

While Turkey calls it the Canakkale battle, its former Allied adversaries, including Australia and New Zealand, refer to it as the Gallipoli campaign.

“We are offering historic reform,” said Erdogan, who maintains that an executive presidency and the abolition of the prime minister’s post will help Turkey develop economically and deal with security challenges, which include a botched coup attempt last year.

Also Saturday, senior German officials cast doubt on Turkey’s chances of joining the European Union, amid growing tensions with Ankara over human rights and Turkey’s claim that it’s being treated unfairly by countries in Western Europe.

In an interview published by Hamburg weekly Der Spiegel, Germany’s foreign minister suggested that for now the most that Turkey can hope for is to one day achieve a “privileged partnership” with the bloc.

“Turkey is further away than ever before from EU membership,” Sigmar Gabriel was quoted as saying.