Germany’s Merkel rejects Erdogan’s Nazi remarks

BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejects remarks by Turkey’s president accusing officials of “Nazi practices,” days after a local authority in Germany prevented a Turkish minister from addressing a rally.

“One cannot seriously comment on such misplaced statements,” Merkel says at an event in Berlin, according to the dpa news agency.

Diplomatic tensions have been rising in recent days amid Turkish plans to have government ministers address rallies in Germany and the Netherlands in support of a national referendum on constitutional reform that would give Erdogan more powers.

Last week, local authorities in southwestern Germany withdrew permission for Turkey’s justice minister to use a venue to hold a “yes” rally aimed at Turks living in Germany. Responding to that, Erdogan on Sunday said that “Germany, you don’t have anything to do with democracy. These current practices of yours are no different than the Nazi practices of the past.”

Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert says that the German government “strongly rejected” that, adding that such comparisons downplay the crimes of the Nazis.

Seibert notes that there are strong social, economic and military ties between Germany and Turkey, but acknowledges that there are “far-reaching differences of opinion” between Berlin and Ankara at the moment.

Seibert dismisses any notion that the federal government was involved in the decision to cancel events with Turkish officials, saying it was up to local officials to decide whether they could guarantee the necessary security.

— AP