President Erdoğan slams Germany over meeting ban

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has slammed Germany over its decision to ban Turkish ministers from holding events in two German cities ahead of the April 16 constitutional referendum that will decide whether the current parliamentary system should be shifted to an executive presidency.

"They need to be put on trial for aiding and abetting terror," Erdoğan said late on March 3, slamming German authorities for "letting the members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leaders to hold rallies while preventing Turkish leaders from addressing their communities."

On March 2, the municipality of Gaggenau in southwest Germany revoked its permission for Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ's meeting, citing concerns about overcrowding. This prompted Bozdağ to cancel his planned visit to Germany altogether.

Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci's planned address on March 5 to a Turkish community in western city of Cologne was also cancelled by local authorities over security concerns.

Germany also barred President Erdoğan from holding a planned rally with Germany-based Turkish citizens last year, after the failed July 2016 military coup attempt, widely believed to have been masterminded by the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).  

During his speech, Erdoğan commented on the aforementioned incident.

"I was to participate at a rally via a video conference, but Germany's Constitutional Court took a decision in two hours, which is a phenomenon not seen anywhere in the world, and prevented me from making a speech," he said. 

Erdoğan also said that Germany allowed PKK figure Cemil Bayık to address a crowd in Germany.
"But they are connecting Cemil Bayık from Kandil and he is making his speech there ...