Turkey's justice min. cancels Germany visit in protest

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag cancelled a planned visit to Germany on Thursday, after local authorities revoked permission for a meeting where he was scheduled to address Turkish community members.

Bozdag slammed German authorities for cancelling the hall meeting at short notice, which was scheduled for Thursday in the southern German town of Gaggenau.

"It is unacceptable that the German authorities are not tolerating a meeting of the Turkish community, while they are always lecturing everyone on human rights, democracy, rule of law and freedom of expression, and criticizing them about their deficits in these areas," he told reporters in Strasbourg, France.

Bozdag said, following today’s incident, he decided to cancel a planned meeting with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, who had requested a meeting with him in Karlsruhe on Thursday.

“I have called off our meeting with Germany’s justice minister, after the cancellation of the gathering in Gaggenau. This meeting will not take place, we will return to Turkey," he said.

The municipality of Gaggenau revoked its permission for the meeting earlier Thursday citing concerns of overcrowding. The event was organised by the Union of European Turkish Democrats, or UETD.