UPDATE - Germany rules out Erdogan event with Turkish community

UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES FROM GABRIEL, BACKGROUND

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - The government on Friday moved to block Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from addressing a Turkish community rally during next week’s planned G20 visit to Hamburg, risking further deterioration in ties with Ankara.

In a communication sent to the Turkish embassy in Berlin, the German Foreign Ministry said any public appearance by a foreign leader for a political event with his or her own citizens was only possible with the authorization of the German government.

The ministry added that an official request for such a meeting should be sent at least 10 days before the planned event.

Erdogan is scheduled to visit Germany next week to participate in the G20 summit in Hamburg between July 7 and July 8.

Representatives of Germany’s three-million-strong Turkish community were planning to host Erdogan at a public event on the sidelines of the summit.

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

Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer told a news conference in Berlin the government had decided on new rules regarding the public appearances of foreign politicians during visits to Germany. He said all diplomatic missions in Berlin had been informed about them by a verbal note sent on Friday.

Schaefer said Berlin would, in principle, not authorize such events if they fell within three months of elections in the expat community’s country, in order to prevent importing foreign internal conflicts into Germany.

He said these rules were applicable to all countries but did not include fellow EU member states.

Asked whether the Turkish president could address his countrymen at the Turkish embassy or a consulate without prior consent from the German government, Schaefer insisted the new rules also applied to diplomatic missions.

- Berlin contradicts itself

Schaefer’s remarks contradicted with the government’s statements made some three months back about public appearances of Turkish politicians in Germany.

In March, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert turned down calls by opposition politicians to ban campaign rallies of Turkish politicians ahead of Turkey’s constitutional referendum on April 16.

“When we criticize others for restricting freedom of thought and press freedoms, we should uphold these values in our own country. That means, we are not for a general ban on public appearances of Turkish politicians,” Seibert said at that time.

- Gabriel defends ban

Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters during a visit to Russia on Thursday his government was not willing to permit a meeting of Erdogan with his compatriots in Germany on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

"I have proposed to the federal chancellor that we reassess our policy. In the past, we have agreed to such public appearances, also during election campaigns.

“I think we should now tell all countries that are not EU members -- not only Turkey -- that we will not permit campaign appearances here that are intended to import another country’s internal conflicts into Germany," Gabriel said.

He also said that a meeting of Erdogan with the Turkish community would not be appropriate at this point in time due to recent tensions between Berlin and Ankara.

"As we will be hosting the G20 summit, we will not have sufficient police officers available to provide the necessary security. I also openly stated that such a public appearance would neither be appropriate nor politically apposite, given the current tensions that exist with Turkey,” he said.

Despite disagreements between Berlin and Ankara over public appearances by Turkish politicians in Germany, Merkel’s spokesman underlined on Friday the importance of Erdogan’s participation at the G20 summit.

“I would like to emphasize the following on behalf of the German federal government: President Erdogan is an important guest for us and we would welcome his participation in the G20 summit,” he said.