Merkel says Germany still considering Turkish request to prosecute comedian

BERLIN - Reuters

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on April 14 that her government was still examining a request from Turkey to prosecute a German satirist who recited a sexually crude poem about Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan on television. 

“The consultations ... are continuing and we will inform you when they are over,” Merkel told a news conference. 

Meanwhile, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on April 13 criticized Turkey for its reaction to the satirist, vowing not to compromise on European values in order to preserve the recently struck deal with Ankara to stem migrant flows.    

Juncker told the European Parliament that “dialogue” is the only way to tackle issues with Turkey, including the row over a German TV satirist. 

“I cannot understand at all that a German ambassador has been summoned for an admittedly difficult satirical song,” Juncker told lawmakers in the French city of Strasbourg.

“That does not bring Turkey closer to us. It will put us farther away from each other,” he added. German prosecutors last week opened a preliminary probe against comedian Jan Boehmermann, 35, for a poem about Erdoğan.