Turkish daily newspaper Yeni Akit turned its front page on Tuesday into an attack on Germany, saying the country under Chancellor Angela Merkel is worse than it was during Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime.
The Islamist pro-government newspaper alleged that Turks in Germany were no longer treated for medical ailments, workers were dismissed from their jobs and people of Turkish origin could not rent flats.
“Merkel’s Germany has surpassed Hitler in oppression and hatred,’’ the paper said.
There is no evidence that the large Turkish community in Germany is being treated this way.
Star, another pro-government daily, focused its front page on Peter Steudtner, a German human rights activist and teacher, who was detained on July 18 in Turkey. The daily called him a “chaos coach.”
The paper alleges Steudtner was plotting an anti-government revolt with the knowledge of the German embassy, saying he used a programme called “Elephant.”
Elephant in fact exists but is the system used by the German foreign services around the world for German citizens to register voluntarily while they travel in the event of emergencies.
Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, meanwhile, penned an op-ed in the pro-government Daily Sabah in which he said: “Turks, Germans and Europeans have to work hard to avoid irrational attitudes and irresponsible policies that end up hurting everyone.’’
He also denounced the “German media’s obsession with Erdogan, which reads like the stray thoughts of the mentally disturbed rather than serious political commentary.’’
Tensions between Germany and Turkey are on the rise, in part over Steudtner’s detention, along with nine other human rights activists including the head of Amnesty International’s Turkey branch.
Two German journalists are also jailed in Turkey. (dpa/NAN)