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Template:08/03/17
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has been condemned by various EU leaders after making controversial comments about German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Administration, following the German Government’s decision to block proposed Turkish referendum rallies held on German soil. The move came days after President Erdo?an and his minister for foreign affairs, Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu, announced plans to travel to several EU nation’s in a bid to muster support for the April 16th constitutional referendum, in which President Erdo?an seeks to expand his presidential powers.
The cancellation of the planned rallies came only days after the Turkish Government arrested German-Turkish citizen Deniz Yücel, a reporter for the German publication ‘Die Welt’, on charges of “spreading terrorist propaganda”. Chancellor Merkel stated the German Government would do ‘everything in its power to secure his release’, after Yücel published an article containing the leaked emails of Turkish Minister for Energy, Berat Albayrak.
The cancellation of the proposed rallies were initially made by the local councils of Gaggenau and Cologne, citing concerns over security and capacity. However, the moves were viewed by Ankara as being retaliatory in nature, and criticised both the local and federal Government’s of Germany, comparing their practices to those of the fascist ‘Nazi regime’ from the early 20th century.
Germany has the largest population of Turkish residents living outside of Turkey, with over 1.4 million expatriates eligible to vote in the April 16th referendum. President Erdo?an aims to secure the support of this, amongst others, large Turkish diaspora to help him secure a ‘yes’ vote on April 16th.