Turkey’s war of words with Germany escalates

Ankara, March 7: The Turkish Foreign Minister on Tuesday escalated an ongoing “war of words” with Germany when he said that nobody could stop him from taking his referendum campaign to Hamburg, despite an order from German officials to cancel the event. Germany is home to around 1.4 million eligible Turkish voters in the upcoming referendum that could see Turkey’s parliamentary republic become a presidential one, enhancing the executive powers of current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Efe news reported.

“They are trying to cancel all our rallies with unprecedented pressure. It is a totally oppressive system that puts pressure on private hotel owners,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu, told the Hurriyet daily. “I’m going to go. Nobody can stop me,” he continued.

City authorities in Hamburg, northern Germany, on Monday prohibited a meeting that was scheduled to be led by Cavusoglu. He confirmed that the meeting was cancelled but added that it had been relocated. The government clampdown on several Turkish referendum rallies being held on German soil combined with Ankara’s detention of a Turkish-German jourlist on terror charges has led to tension between the two tions.

Erdogan recently criticized the German government’s actions and likened them to the zi regime. (IANS)