Thousands of Turkish women rally in favour of Erdogan’s powers

Turkey told North Atlantic Treaty Organisation partner Germany on Friday it must “learn how to behave” if it wanted to maintain relations after two German towns stopped Turkish ministers speaking at meetings of supporters of President Tayyip Erdogan.

He said Merkel and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel would address the meaning of the latest events with Ankara, as well as Germany’s demand that Turkey free Yucel, whom Erdogan says is a “German agent” and a member of an armed Kurdish militant group.

He demanded Ankara immediately free the German-Turkish correspondent of the conservative German newspaper “Die Welt“, as well as numerous other journalists and scientists detained since last year’s coup attempt in Turkey.

Turkey’s economy minister, Nihat Zeybekci, was due to speak at two events in western Germany on Sunday. They are among three million persons of Turkish origin living in Germany. “Your practices are not different from the Nazi practices of the past”. After Gaggenau cancelled the Thursday evening event, ostensibly for reasons of public safety, Ankara hauled in the German ambassador for a formal complaint.

He added: “I think the main thing is that everyone uses the possibilities they have to ensure that we get back to a somewhat normal relationship”.

Several German towns prevented appearances by Erdogan’s ministers last week, citing security and safety concerns.

Deniz Yucel was arrested on Monday and charged by an Istanbul court of spreading terrorist propaganda and inciting hatred.

Erdogan, who had campaigned in Germany in 2011 and 2014, was reportedly planning a another political rally to secure the important diaspora before the referendum.

“We say the victory is God’s…”

That’s where Turkish government ministers were going to call for a “Yes” vote in a Turkish referendum, scheduled for next month, that would expand Erdogan’s presidential powers.

The Turkish prime minister told reporters that the foreign ministers of the two countries would meet this week to discuss the issue.

Angela Merkel said her government played no part in the municipalities’ decisions to cancel the rallies. As far as the cancellations, the chancellor said, “we support the decisions that were taken”.

Under an ongoing state of emergency, the government has also shuttered dozens of news outlets and purged tens of thousands from the judiciary and civil service.

Germany has not been the only European country to push back against Turkish attempts to campaign overseas.

Erdogan however, re-escalated tensions hours later, saying Turkey would continue to criticize Germany.