SEETHING Turkey officials have summoned a senior German diplomat after president Recep Tayyip Erdogan was denied the chance to speak at a Turkish rally in Cologne.
Tens of thousands of pro-Erdogan supporters took to the streets in the German city but were denied the chance to hear from the Turkish president after he was blocked from sending a message via video link by officials.
In a tense backlash, Ankara has now summoned deputy German ambassador Martin Erdmann to Turkey as tensions between the countries continue to boil over.
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The rally came in response to the failed military coup in Turkey which has seen 60,000 people detained for their alleged part in the overthrow attempt.
Turkish government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said Germany had acted with "double standards" by banning the Erdogan address.
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A spokeswoman for the German embassy said the diplomat had “been summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry at 1pm”.
Berlin attempted to play down the summoning by Ankara, claiming it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Spokesman for the German foreign ministry Martin Schaefer said: “In the day-to-day dealings between countries, it is a daily event — normal for a representative of a country to be called in to the foreign ministry of his host country.”
Relations have deteriorated between Berlin and Ankara since the coup, with one Turkish newspaper depicting Angela Merkel with a Hitler moustache.
German Chancellor: Angela Merkel
Sun, July 31, 2016Angela Merkel has served as German Chancellor since 2005 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000. We take a look at her political career in pictures.
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German chancellor Angela Merkel attends a memorial service for the victims of last weeks shooting spree that left nine victims dead on July 31, 2016 in Munich, Germany
State-owned Aksam published a picture of the German chancellor wearing black and performing the infamous gesture alongside a headline reading: “Heil Merkel!”
The accompanying article describes Germany as a “hostile territory” for Turks and styles Merkel as a dictator who is trying to silence the voice of President Erdogan.
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It comes as Turkey threatened to scrap its migrant deal with the EU – which has significantly reduced the numbers of new arrivals to the continent – unless Brussels agrees to begin visa-free access for all its 80million citizens by October.
Turkey’s hope of joining the bloc is now in the balance after Erdogan threatened to reintroduce the death penalty for those implicated in the failed coup – a move EU bureaucrats say would stop Ankara’s access to Brussels.
