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Turkey angry after Erdogan is told he can’t campaign in Austria

Turkey has slammed Austria's "double standard" and "irresponsible" approach to potential campaigning by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the EU member state ahead of April's referendum.

Published: 1 March 2017 12:36 CET
Turkey angry after Erdogan is told he can't campaign in Austria
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he delivers a speech during a city planning meeting in Ankara on January 27th 2017. Photo: AFP

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said Erdogan is “not welcome” to hold campaign events, adding that it would “increase friction” in Austria and prevent the integration of a 360,000-strong minority of Turkish origin.

“We do not accept those irresponsible comments that exceed their limits and the distorted mentality,” Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu said in a statement late on Monday.

Kurz's comments are a “new example of a biased and double standard approach”, he added.

Turkey will hold an April 16th referendum on changing the constitution to give Erdogan an executive presidency along the lines of that in France or in the United States.

The Turkish government says the changes would bring stability while opponents fear it would hugely boost Erdogan's powers and drag Turkey into one-man rule.

Speaking in Vienna on Monday, Kurz said his government was clearly against bringing the “the Turkish campaign and (the resulting) polarisation to Austria” in remarks deemed as “worrying” by the Turkish foreign ministry.

ISLAM

Erdogan calls French separatism bill ‘guillotine’ of democracy

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday denounced a planned French law designed to counter "Islamist separatism" as a "guillotine" of democracy.

Published: 13 May 2021 15:01 CEST
Erdogan calls French separatism bill 'guillotine' of democracy
Erdogan has already denounced the proposed measures as "anti-Muslim". Photo: Adem ALTAN/AFP

The draft legislation has been criticised both inside France and abroad for stigmatising Muslims and giving the state new powers to limit speech and religious groups.

“The adoption of this law, which is openly in contradiction of human rights, freedom of religion and European values, will be a guillotine blow inflicted on French democracy,” said Erdogan in a speech in Ankara.

The current version of the planned law would only serve the cause of extremism, putting NGOs under pressure and “forcing young people to choose between their beliefs and their education”, he added.

READ ALSO: What’s in France’s new law to crack down on Islamist extremism?

“We call on the French authorities, and first of all President (Emmanuel) Macron, to act sensibly,” he continued. “We expect a rapid withdrawal of this bill.”

Erdogan also said he was ready to work with France on security issues and integration, but relations between the two leaders have been strained for some time.

France’s government is in the process of passing new legislation to crack down on what it has termed “Islamist separatism”, which would give the state more power to vet and disband religious groups judged to be threats to the nation.

Erdogan has already denounced the proposed measures as “anti-Muslim”.

READ ALSO: Has Macron succeeded in creating an ‘Islam for France’?

Last October, Erdogan questioned Macron’s “mental health”, accusing him of waging a “campaign of hatred” against Islam, after the French president defended the right of cartoonists to caricature the prophet Mohammed.

The two countries are also at odds on a number of other issues, including Libya, Syria and the eastern Mediterranean.

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