Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his German counterpart Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel held a phone call Friday over recent tensions between the two countries, and agreed to meet on March 8 to discuss bilateral ties, Turkish foreign ministry sources said.
Relations between Germany and Turkey have soured since German authorities in the southern German town of Gaggenau controversially withdrew permission on Thursday for an event where Bozdağ was to meet Turkish citizens in a rally and deliver a speech in which he was expected to address the crowd about the upcoming referendum on April 16 for the proposed constitutional amendments in Turkey, an event organized by the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD).
A statement released by the city of Gaggenau indicated that the event was canceled due to security-related concerns and the "limited capacity of the hall" where the event would have been held. Despite strong reactions by Turkish politicians, Gaggenau Mayor Michael Pfeiffer said the decision was not a political one.
Meanwhile, according to the German Press Agency (DPA), an official from the city of Cologne said an event on March 5, where Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci would be holding a rally through the UETD, has also been canceled. "There was no agreement for March 5, and there will not be," the official reportedly told the DPA.
Following the incidents, the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned German Ambassador to Ankara Martin Erdmann, and he was received by the deputy secretary responsible for European affairs, Mehmet Kemal Bozay. Turkey's written demarche was also delivered to Erdmann.
After Thursday's developments, Çavuşoğlu warned Germany that it would "need to learn how to behave towards Turkey" if Berlin wanted to maintain ties. He added that Germany had to see Turkey as an equal partner, otherwise Turkey would respond without hesitation. The foreign minister also underlined that Germany's double standard toward Turkey and ongoing pressure would not discourage the Turkish people. Çavuşoğlu also called for cooperation between the two states, instead of Germany taking a patronizing stance.
Germany has the largest Turkish diaspora abroad. Among the three million ethnic Turks living in Germany, around 1.4 million are Turkish citizens, according to Turkish authorities.
