BARCELONA, Spain – The exchange of accusations between German and Turkish politicians before this week’s upcoming visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan shows the disaffection between Europe and Ankara.
Germany, the economic motor of Europe and the largest country of Turkish emigrants in the continent, has criticized Erdogan´s internal policies as “a risk to democracy.”
This tough accusation was made by German President Joachim Gauck during a trip to Turkey in April, in which he warned of the consequences of Erdogan curbing freedom of expression in the country.
Gauck was reflecting the European Union policy against the way the Turkish premier handled last year’s iron-handed crackdown on anti-government protests, clamped down on the media and blocked Twitter. He wondered, also, about EU policy toward the corruption scandal engulfing Erdogan’s inner circle.
In a speech at the Metu Technical University in Ankara, a stronghold of the Turkish student movement, Gauck said he was watching with concern a tendency in Turkey to undermine the rule of law and the balance of power.
He pondered whether, “the independence of the judiciary is still secure when the government replaces a large number of lawyers and police officers, preventing them from uncovering abuses of power without consideration for those affected.
"We are going through a period when access to the Internet and social media networks are restricted, journalists with critical views are being dismissed and even tried, and a period when newspapers face publication bans and media organs are under legal pressure," said Gauck in his speech.
In response, Erdogan accused Gauck of interfering in the internal affairs of Turkey and told him to “keep your advice to yourself.”
Quickly, adding to the row, German European Parliament members called for a stop to Turkey’s accession talks with the European Union.
“The country is increasingly distancing itself from Europe and fundamental European values,” Markus Ferber, from the Christian Social Union, was quoted as saying.
Turkey was accepted as a candidate country to enter the EU in 1999 and negotiations for full membership started in 2005.
Several German newspapers have also quoted other politicians from different parties criticizing Erdogan’s visit.
The German newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung quoted German Social Affairs Minister of the North Rhine-Westphalia state, Guntram Schneider, as saying that Erdogan’s visit to the city of Koln this weekend “was wrong, inappropriate and close to being a breach of German law.”
He said that was because of suspicion that Erdogan’s trip aims to campaign among Turkish citizens living in Germany for the presidential elections on August 10.
North Rhine-Westphalia is the German state with the highest Turkish population.
Also, the Spiegel Online newspaper quoted Andreas Scheuer, general secretary of the conservative Christian Social Democrats Union, as saying it would not be right for the Turkish PM to campaign in Germany.
Erdogan has not said yet if he will be a candidate for the next elections, since he cannot aspire for another term as prime minister. The next elections in August are the first direct presidential polls for which a law has been passed to not allow former presidents to stand for elections. But the prime minister can run without previous registration for the post.
Turkish officials have replied that Erdogan’s visit to Germany is to attend the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the European Turkish Democrats Union.
Claudia Roth, a German Green Party politician, told Rudaw in an email that “Mr. Erdogan should have the possibility to come to Germany and speak to his supporters. This is what we call democracy and freedom of speech, and nobody in Germany has the right or the authority to forbid Mr. Erdogan to visit Germany and to speak in public.”
But, she pointed out, “What we as Germans and Turkish-Germans do expect from Erdogan’s visit is that he will not divide the Turkish community in Germany in the same way he is dividing the society in Turkey. And that he will find the right words of empathy and grief for the victims of Soma. At least his visit in Germany would be a good opportunity to apologize for his scurrilous behavior towards the German President Joachim Gauck few weeks ago.”
Soma is the site of the deadliest disaster in Turkish mining history which killed 301 people in a fire accident last week.
The accident has caused wide protests against the lack of safety measures in Turkish mines. The protests have been met with a harsh response from the government and the police. Also, Erdogan has been videotaped verbally abusing a relative of a miner during a visit to Soma and, in another video, he was shown taking a miner by the neck who later was beaten to the floor by his bodyguards. Another photograph showed an aid to the prime minister kicking a protester.
Following this bad publicity for Erdogan, German Green Party co-chairman Cem Ozdemir, a German citizen of Turkish origin, has said the visit should not be taken so soon after the tragedy in western Turkey.
Adding more fuel in the row between the two countries, German Chancellor Angela Merkel shown in the Greek edition of Deutsche Welle radio to be upset over Erdogan’s prospects of turning former Greek Orthodox church of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque.
The feeling between Turkey and Europe appear to be mutual: While some years ago most Turks favored their country joining the European Union, now that the Turkish economy is booming and Europe is going through one of its worse economic times, less than half the Turkish population would like to be members of the EU.
