Turkey on Friday accused Germany of working for a 'No' vote in a referendum on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers after the cancellation of several rallies. The Turkish foreign minister warned Germany, which is facing elections later this year, it would "need to learn how to behave towards Turkey" if Berlin wanted to maintain ties. "The referendum is a domestic issue for Turkey," Merkel's spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said, adding: "Freedom of opinion... should be respected" both in Turkey and in Germany. Politicians and activists in Germany have called for the government to ban Turkish politicians from speaking in Germany after a German journalist was jailed in Turkey on terrorism charges. Turkey responded by recalling its ambassador to Berlin and by banning German politicians from visiting German soldiers based at an airbase in southern Turkey.

Source: The Local March 03, 2017 14:03 UTC