Berlin lawmakers have sought to quash rumors Erdogan still plans to host a rally on German soil during the G20 summit. Such a rally could be used to stoke support for a prospective vote to reintroduce the death penalty, Deutsch Welle reports.
Underlining just how sour relations between Germany and Turkey had become, a German foreign ministry official warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday against even appearing at a Turkish consulate or speaking via web video link, when he arrives in Germany later this week for the G20 summit.
Last week, the German government denied a request from Ankara to allow Erdogan to address Germany’s Turkish community.
Responding to suspected rumors that the Turkish president would defy the German government, Martin Schaefer said that doing so “would be an affront to the clearly expressed will of the government and a violation of German sovereignty.”
Schaefer said that, while he couldn’t impose an outright on Erdogan speaking at a Turkish consulate, the government had options for influencing such actions.
