German city relocates Turkish foreign minister’s rally

By Erbil Basay

BERLIN (AA) - The northern German city of Hamburg Monday changed the venue of a scheduled meeting of Turkey’s foreign minister with the local Turkish community.

Mevlut Cavusoglu was scheduled to delivere a speech on Tuesday to local Turkish expats at the Plaza Event Center in Wilhelmsburg.

But the program was cancelled due to the building not meeting first safety standards, a spokesperson from the Hamburg-Mitte City Corporation told German media on condition of anonymity due to lack of permission to speak to the press.

The official also claimed that security concerns were another factor in the decision.

Cavusoglu’s rally will be held in another hall to be disclosed only hours before the program, said the official.

Tensions between Ankara and Berlin flared recently following some German cities’ controversial decisions to cancel several rallies of top Turkish government ministers.

They were scheduled to address the representatives of Germany’s 3 million-strong Turkish community on the April 16 Turkish referendum on constitutional changes for transition to a presidential system.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed German authorities on Sunday for undermining the freedom of expression and right to assembly, calling such policies "no different from the Nazi ones of the past”.

Nearly 1.5 million Turkish residents in Germany are eligible to vote in Turkey’s referendum on constitutional changes. Turkish citizens in Germany can cast their votes at Turkish consulates between March 27 and April 9.