Austria Calls for EU-wide Ban on Turkish Campaign Events

Turkish politicians should be banned from political campaigning across the European Union, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said Sunday.


“A collective EU response to prevent such campaign events would make sense so that individual countries like Germany where appearances are forbidden don’t end up being pressured by Turkey,” Kern told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

Ankara is wooing voters among Germany’s three-million-strong population of Turkish origin — the largest outside Turkey — to support expanding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s powers in an April 16 referendum.

Several German towns prevented appearances by Erdogan’s ministers last week, citing security and safety concerns.

The cancellations have angered the Turkish government, which accused Berlin of seeking to undermine its referendum campaign.

Defying local authorities’ block on a referendum rally, economy minister Nihat Zeybekci is to speak Sunday at two private events organized by Turkish groups in Cologne and nearby Leverkusen.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday called Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim to smooth the troubled waters, and the two countries’ foreign ministers are set to meet later this week.
  [almanar.com.lb/AFP]
5/3/17