UPDATE - Turkey: MHP chief says Germany should 'correct mistake'

ADDS MORE REMARKS OF MHP LEADER

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - The leader of Turkey's opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has called on Germany to right a wrong he considered was committed against Ankara, referring to local bans on rallies organized by Turkish government ministers.

In his party's parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday in Ankara, Devlet Bahceli slammed German authorities' decisions to ban the rallies ahead of the April 16 constitutional referendum.

"Germany's chancellor should avoid actions and steps against Turkey that increase the tension [between the two countries] while correcting its mistake [against Turkey]," said Bahceli.

Bahceli suggested Germany "look for a way to correct relations with Turkey with patience and calm".

He added: "If necessary, [...] we will not avoid taking matters into our own hands”.

Taking journalists’ questions following the group meeting, Bahceli backed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks about Germany's rally ban.

"If the attitude of the German, Dutch, and Austrian administrations [against Turkey] does not change, I will not forsake our president if he goes to Europe”.

Erdogan Sunday lashed out at Germany after Turkish government ministers were barred from holding public rallies in two German cities ahead of the April 16 referendum in Turkey.

"I have seen that the Netherlands made the same statement [as Germany]. Poor fellows! They do not act of their own will," said Erdogan.

"If I want, I would come [to Germany] tomorrow," he added. "If you keep me out the door, or If you block my [making an] address, I will set the world on fire”.

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

They were scheduled to address the representatives of Germany’s 3 million-strong Turkish community on the referendum on constitutional changes that would hand wide-ranging executive powers to the president.

Erdogan slammed German authorities on Sunday for undermining the freedom of expression and right to assembly, calling such practices "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.

- The PKK/YPG/PYD and Manbij

On Manbij, the next target of Turkey's Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria, Bahceli said, "At such a time, U.S. help for the [PKK-affiliated] YPG/PYD terrorists in Manbij with heavy weapons and armored vehicles will not be evaluated as being well-intended”.

Bahceli said the U.S. arming PKK/PYD/YPG terrorists in Manbij showed a “cowboy's carelessness” and had “caused confusion in our head and also questions”.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took control of Manbij from Daesh last August with the support of coalition air cover, and on-the-ground trainers and advisers.

The SDF is led by the YPG, a group the U.S. has consistently relied on as its principal partner in the anti-Daesh fight in northern Syria.

Turkey has designated the YPG as a Syrian offshoot of the terrorist PKK. The U.S. and EU have similarly labeled the PKK, but have refrained from following suit on the YPG, to Ankara’s consternation.

Turkey has insisted YPG elements leave Manbij and withdraw east of the Euphrates River.