Germany’s chancellery on Monday hit out at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for likening a German ban on rallies by his ministers to “Nazi practices”, calling the comparison “absolutely unacceptable”.
“The Government will make this very clear” to Turkey, Peter Altmaier, chief of staff at the chancellery, told public broadcaster ARD.
“There is absolutely no reason to allow ourselves to be reproached over this,” he added.
Ankara and Berlin are locked in a new dispute weighing on already frayed ties, this time over rallies in Germany by Turkish ministers to promote Erdogan’s bid for greater powers.
The row erupted late last week after three German local authorities banned the ministers’ scheduled rallies ahead of an April referendum over the plan to scrap the prime minister post in Turkey altogether.
The German authorities cited capacity problems in hosting the events, which they said would likely attract large crowds.