Thousands of demonstrators protest against Erdogan in Cologne

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Germany on Saturday and had to face protest from the Turkish community in Germany over his government’s handling of mining accident killing over 300 miners. While he was addressing his supporters, about 65,000 protesters gathered to demonstrate their anger towards his policies. The appearance of Erdogan clearly showed how Turkish community in Germany is divided.

“Feel the pain ” by the tragedy of Soma, the Turkish leader began in front of 15,000 enthusiastic supporters. But the accident will not prevent the government, Erdogan said, still fighting the ” illegal organizations” that use these events to commit terrorist acts.

On the street, several tens of thousands of people 65,000 according to organizers, 40,000 according to the authorities, protesting against the presence in Europe of the man in his posters often branded “fascist “, “murderer” or autocrat. Some of the protesters wore miner helmets, in memory of the tragedy of Soma.

The arrival of the leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Cologne occurs only three months prior to a presidential election to which it seems that Erdogan wants to present itself as a contestant. It is no coincidence the venue for the speech to his supporters, and the Turkish community in Germany amounts to 1.5 million people. And the August elections will be the first in which foreign residents have the right to vote. Erdogan was already last February in a similar event in Berlin.

Visiting Cologne has cornered the political- journalistic debate in Germany all week. “Erdogan is not welcome” headlined last Sunday the prestigious Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Erdogan lamented the deaths registered during the events following the accident at Soma, but lambasted opponents and foreign media to criticize and insult him; attacks against those who demanded respect.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, after statements from several members of his party suggested last Thursday to Turkish leader “containment” and ” sensitivity” in the speech he would give on Saturday. Front politicians who claimed that the presence of Erdogan could have been prevented, however, the Government argued that it was a private visit and could do nothing to avoid it.

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Posted by Maleeha Tareen on May 26 2014. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.