Turkey confirms asking Germany to prosecute comedian for insulting Erdo?an

A senior Turkish official has confirmed that Ankara had officially requested Germany criminally prosecute a comedian for allegedly insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an in a poem.

Turkey's Ambassador to Germany Hüseyin Avni Karsl?o?lu on April 10 sent a diplomatic note to the German Foreign Office requesting Germany criminally prosecute comedian Jan Böhmermann for reading a poem that called President Erdo?an a zoophile, Deutsche Press Agentur (DPA) reported, confirming a report carried by Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel.

The confirmation and the explanation concerning the reports, however, didn't come from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, but came from the Turkish president's office. 

"Friends, as you know, our Foreign Ministry took required initiatives on that issue in the presence of German authorities, the note was delivered and the German authorities have launched an investigation within the framework of their rules of law. Mainz Chief Prosecutor's Office started a legal process about this. From now on, it is of course a process to be conducted by the German authorities and to proceed within the framework of the German legal system," Presidential Spokesperson ?brahim Kal?n said at a press conference on April 11, in response to questions from reporters.

"But we want to underline this: Attacks which contain such insults and are voiced with indecent expressions to target the president of a country and a people has no relation with either freedom of expression or freedom of press. This is an insult and a crime in every place of the world. As we said, the German authorities are following the related process and we will of course follow it closely too," Kal?n said.

In early April, German Chancellor Angela Merkel...