Provocative, malevolent remarks by German politicians on Erdoğan rally unacceptable: Presidential spokesperson

ANKARA

Remarks made by some German politicians over President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s potential rally in the country were unacceptable, Turkish Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said on June 29, describing them as “provocative and malevolent.”

“The fact that those who are attempting to give Turkey a lesson in terms of democracy, human rights and freedoms in every opportunity, trying to prevent our president’s meeting with our citizens while they are taking terror organizations, coup plotters and the outlawed under their wings is the most concrete indicator of double standards reigning in Europe,” Kalın said in a statement.

Kalın also said Berlin’s move to hinder the president’s meeting with citizens citing “thin excuses” did not comply with the friendship relation between the two countries.

“We hope that German authorities will not repeat grave mistakes made during the [April 16] referendum process,” he said.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Minister for EU Affairs Ömer Çelik described Schulz’s statements as an application of “double standards”.        
 
“These politicians’ statements regarding our president’s meeting with our citizens in Germany are unacceptable,” he tweeted.