German government condemns President Erdoğan's Nazi remarks

Germany's government has condemned remarks by Turkey's president accusing officials of "Nazi practices," days after a local authority prevented a Turkish minister from addressing a meeting there.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's statements "absolutely unacceptable."

"Germany cannot be outmatched regarding the rule of law, tolerance and liberalism," he told German public Television ARD.

Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said the German government "strongly rejected" the equation of modern Germany with Nazi Germany, adding that such comparisons downplayed the crimes of the Nazis. 

Seibert said there were strong social, economic and military ties between Germany and Turkey, but acknowledged that there were "far-reaching differences of opinion" between Berlin and Ankara at the moment.

Diplomatic tensions have been rising in recent days amid Turkish plans to have government ministers address rallies in Germany and the Netherlands in support of the "yes"  vote in an  upcoming constitution referendum.

Altmaier said the government was in contact with Turkey's government and announced that "we will make sure the significance of the problems of what happened in recent days will be recognized and understood in Ankara as well."

Erdoğan had said on March 5 in Istanbul that "Germany, you don't have anything to do with democracy. These current practices of yours are no different than the Nazi practices of the past."

His remarks followed a decision last week by local authorities in southwest Germany to withdraw permission for Turkey's justice minister to use a venue to hold a rally near the French border that was part of a campaign to convince Turks in...