Zainab AsifRecently two pro Turkish government rallies were cancelled in Germany due to fears of overcrowding. These rallies were meant to garner support from the 1.5 million Turkish voters who reside in Germany in favor of referendum that will come up for voting in April this year. The referendum seeks to increase the power enjoyed by the Turkish President and establish a power structure similar to that of the US.
The cancellation of the rallies has opened up a rift between Turkey and Germany. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out a Germany in a video recorded for Turkish state news agency Anadolu. Erdogan said: “I thought that Nazism was over in Germany, but it turns out that it is still going on. It is still going on, it is clear.”
This comment was condemned by the German government sharply. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesperson Steffen Seibert said that the Chancellor considers President Erdogan’s comments about Nazi style practices as absurd. He added that there are deep differences of opinion and ideology between the Turkish and the German government. He also emphasized that the two nations were partners in trade as well as in the fight against terrorism. He appealed that Turkish leaders should keep a cool head.
“Nazi comparisons are always absurd and out of place, because they only serve to trivialize National Socialist crimes against humanity,” Seibert told reporters in Berlin on Monday.
Damodar Kalyan
