Turkish Referendum Has Country Trading Barbs With Germany Over Free Speech
I could come and set the world on fire if you don’t let me come in, or you don’t allow me to talk." On Monday, Ms. Merkel told reporters, "One can’t even really seriously comment on such misplaced statements." Ms. Merkel’s chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, said Mr. Erdogan’s language was "absolutely unacceptable" and
that the government would relay that message to Turkey.
Of particular concern to Germany is a German-Turkish journalist, Deniz Yucel, who turned himself in last month, was held for 13 days
and last week was ordered held indefinitely, with the Turkish authorities — including Mr. Erdogan himself — labeling him a terrorist.
Mr. Erdogan’s opponents in Germany, both Turkish and German, say the president wants to use the freedoms of Western democracy to further consolidate his anti-democratic powers at home,
and they accuse him and his men of using their right to free speech in Germany while denying it in Turkey.
Two Turkish ministers campaigning in Germany on Mr. Erdogan’s behalf scrapped rallies
last week after local German authorities said they could not guarantee security.
By ALISON SMALE and PATRICK KINGSLEYMARCH 6, 2017
BERLIN — Germany and Turkey have been locked in an intensifying war of words over the past week, as campaigning heats up before an April referendum in Turkey on a new Constitution
that would expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Aysun Gezen, one of an estimated 4,000 academics purged from Turkish universities since the failed coup last year,
said her case highlighted the Turkish government’s intolerance of dissident voices within its own borders.
