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TURKEY

Ankara triggers German protest over journalists accreditation

Turkey on Friday refused to renew the accreditation of two long-serving German journalists working in the country, triggering protests from Berlin which said the decision was "incomprehensible".

Published: 2 March 2019 09:54 CET
Ankara triggers German protest over journalists accreditation
File photo: DPA

Jörg Brase, Istanbul bureau chief for ZDF public television, and Thomas Seibert, who writes for the newspaper Tagesspiegel, have had their applications for press cards rejected by the Turkish government.

Senior German foreign ministry official Andreas Michaelis called Turkey's ambassador to Germany to protest the decision and asked Ankara to reconsider, the ministry said.

“The decision is incomprehensible,” said ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr.

Relations between Berlin and Ankara plummeted after Turkish authorities arrested tens of thousands of people in a mass purge over the 2016 attempted coup against Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Some of those arrested were also German nationals.

A gradual rapprochement began in 2018 after German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel was freed following his arrest the year before.

Another journalist, Meşale Tolu, was allowed to return to Germany in August
2018.

Both still face terror-related charges in Turkey.

READ ALSO: German foreign office warns citizens about using social media in Turkey

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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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