Anger over Turkish justice ministers' rally in Germany

Germany's opposition Left Party criticised the planned appearance today of Turkey's justice minister at a political rally in southwest Germany, and called on the government to deny him entry to the country.
Bekir Bozdag, a member of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, was scheduled to speak at a rally in Gaggenau, near the French border, as part of a campaign to get Turks in Germany to vote "yes" in an upcoming referendum on introducing a presidential system in Turkey.
Authorities in Gaggenau withdrew permission for a local venue to host the event, citing insufficient space for the large number of people expected, but said that it was possible the rally could be held elsewhere.

Bozdag's visit comes amid friction between Berlin and Ankara over the detention in Turkey of Deniz Yucel, a correspondent for German daily Die Welt.
"While (Turkish) opposition leader Selahattin Demirtas and German journalist Deniz Yucel are incarcerated in Turkish prisons it would be madness to allow Bozdag to take the stage in Germany," said Left Party lawmaker Sevim Dagdelen.
"If the German government lets Bozdag enter (the country) it would be another instance of kneeling before Erdogan."

The German government has indicated that it has no plans to prevent Turkish officials from speaking to the 1.4 million Turkish voters in Germany.

Government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters yesterday that Germany wants to lead by example on issues of freedom of speech and assembly.
Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Turkey to free Yucel and said yesterday night that "independent journalism must be able to exist; journalists must be able to do their job."
Yucel, 43, who was detained in Istanbul on February 14 over his reports in German daily Welt about a hacker attack on the email account of Turkey's energy minister, wrote defiantly in Welt today that "even though they robbed my freedom, their interrogations and reasoning still make me laugh."

Yucel, who has both German and Turkish citizenship, was jailed Monday pending a trial on charges of terrorist propaganda and inciting hatred.
Yesterday he was taken to a prison in Silivri, 80 kilometers west of Istanbul.