Germany calls on Turkey to ‘share common EU values’ over satirical video of Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

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German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier said he expected Turkey as a “partner of the EU” to share the European values, as a response to Turkey summoning the German ambassador to Ankara over a video that ridiculed the Turkish president. 

“I think we can expect from such a partner nation [of the EU] that it shares our common European values,” said Steinmeier said in Tashkent on March 30, adding that this expectation was even more valid when the EU was “currently opening further accession chapters and intend to discuss them.”

Turkey, a long-standing candidate for EU membership, last week called in the German Ambassador to Ankara Martin Erdmann to protest the airing of a short clip, “Erdowie, Erdowo, Erdogan,” which ridicules the Turkish president, his alleged extravagant spending and crackdown on civil liberties.

The common values “applies also to free expression of opinion and press freedoms and naturally also free artistic expression, such as here when it involves satire,” Steinmeier added. 

Commenting on criticism that the German state had given a proper response regarding the summoning of the German ambassador, Steinmeier said it was not true. 

“And it is simply not true that the federal government has kept silent, but rather Ambassador Erdmann, during official talks in Turkey, as well as Foreign Office States Secretary [Martin] Ederer, have conveyed that same view on numerous occasions,” he said. 

The video was aired once again on the “Extra 3” program of the German regional public broadcaster NDR on March 30, this time with Turkish subtitles.