Can someone who defends the Islamist Hamas be received in the Chancellery? Erdogan’s visit to Germany is highly controversial – and also poses challenges for the security authorities.
Protected by a large police force, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Germany on Friday for the first time in three years. A police spokeswoman said 1,500 people from other federal states and the federal police will be on duty. The areas around the Chancellery, Bellevue Palace as the official residence of the Federal President and the Turkish embassy at Tiergarten are cordoned off due to the high security level 1.
Exiled journalist Dündar: Germany bows to Erdogan
The visit is controversial because of Erdogan’s verbal attacks on Israel and his defense of Hamas, which the EU has classified as a terrorist organization. The Turkish exiled journalist Can Dündar told the German Press Agency that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) should have at least postponed the meeting with him in the Chancellery. The federal government is playing by the rules of the Turkish president.
“Erdogan is the winner of this game even before the visit takes place,” said the former editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper. “Germany had to bow to him, knowing that he is a Hamas supporter and calls Israel a terrorist state.”
Several demonstrations planned around the visit
Scholz had already invited Erdogan to Berlin after his re-election as president in May. After the terrorist attack on Israel that left around 1,200 dead, the Turkish president caused outrage with several statements about the Gaza conflict. He defended Hamas as a “liberation organization” and condemned Israel as a “terrorist state.” For Germany, however, Israel’s security is a reason of state and Hamas is a terrorist organization.
Several demonstrations are planned around the stay in Berlin, which will only last a few hours – including against a ban on the Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK, which is also classified as a terrorist organization, and against the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Erdogan not at the international match in the Olympic Stadium
The international football match between Germany and Turkey will take place in the Berlin Olympic Stadium on Saturday. The ardent football fan Erdogan will have already left Berlin by then. In the meantime there was speculation as to whether he would watch the game from the main stand.
Erdogan is expected to land at Berlin Airport around midday on Friday and will meet Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the early afternoon. Afterwards, dinner with Scholz is on the agenda. A press meeting is planned beforehand. It is still unclear whether questions will be allowed.
Scholz wants to use the conversation, among other things, to work towards reviving the refugee agreement between the EU and Turkey.
Dündar accuses the federal government of double standards
Dündar accused the federal government of showing too much consideration for Erdogan. “As I understand it, they don’t want to upset Erdogan because they need Erdogan,” he says. Anyone who condemns Hamas must also draw consequences for how they deal with those who support this Islamist organization. In Germany, demonstrations in support of Hamas would be banned. “But at the same time they invite a Hamas supporter and roll out the red carpet for him. That’s weird, a kind of double standard.”
Dündar was charged several times in Turkey and sentenced to a total of 27 years in prison, among other things, on charges of supporting terrorism. He has been living in exile in Germany since 2016.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
