Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday rejected Ankara’s accusations that her Government had a hand in scrapping Turkish rallies in two German towns backing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bid for greater powers.
As a dispute between Ankara and Berlin escalates over the cancellation of the two events, Merkel also stressed that Berlin was right to criticise Ankara over Press freedom.
The decisions to cancel two rallies by Turkish Ministers in Germany were “taken by municipalities, and as a matter of principle, we apply freedom of expression in Germany,” she said.