Germany gives green light to Turkish anti-coup event

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - German authorities have allowed a senior Turkish politician to attend a public event in the country on Saturday, to mark the anniversary of last year’s defeated coup attempt in Turkey, officials said on Thursday.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry and local authorities in the southern city of Nuremberg have given the Turkish side the go-ahead to organise the event with the participation of the ruling Justice are Development (AK) Party’s deputy chairman Hamza Dag, Turkish and German diplomats told Anadolu Agency.

The Netherlands and Austria, two other European countries with large Turkish immigrant populations, recently ruled out such public appearances by Turkish politicians on the anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt.

Yilmaz Deliduman, a local executive of the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD), an influential Turkish diaspora organization, has welcomed the positive response by German authorities.

“We have received the approval for our event. We interpret this as a positive step, especially after a period of tensions in bilateral relations,” he told Anadolu Agency.

“We hope that this positive approach would continue."

The German government had recently adopted more restrictive measures on public appearances of foreign politicians during their visits to Germany.

Berlin informed all embassies on June 30 that any such appearance necessitated the approval of the federal government, and that requests should be sent to the Foreign Ministry at least 10 days before the planned event.

Earlier this month, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government did not allow Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan make an address to representatives of the Turkish community on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, citing security concerns.

German opposition parties had fiercely opposed Erdogan’s planned address, and increased pressure on the government ahead of a general election to be held in September.

Diplomats, who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to make an official statement to the press, said the Turkish side had officially requested permission last week for the participation of AK Party deputy chairman Hamza Dag to the event in Nuremberg.

The German Foreign Ministry responded positively and asked from the Turkish side to speak with local authorities in Nuremberg.

Nuremberg’s municipality informed Turkish organizers on Thursday that there were no obstacles for Dag’s participation.

The UETD and other Turkish diaspora organizations have scheduled an event at Nuremberg’s Maritim Hotel on Saturday, to commemorate the defeat of the July 15 coup attempt.

Ankara has accused the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen of being being the coup attempt, which martyred 250 people and injured nearly 2,200.

FETO was carrying out a long-running campaign to control the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.