BERLIN – The head of the European Parliament has criticized Turkey for complaining about a German satirical song that poked fun at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Martin Schulz said in an interview published Sunday “it’s intolerable that the president of another country demands we restrict democratic rights in Germany because he feels ridiculed.”
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry summoned the German ambassador to demand the clip’s removal from the website of German public broadcaster ARD. German weekly Bild am Sonntag quoted Schulz calling the move “completely untenable.”
Schulz, who is German, said Europe shouldn’t remain silent about human rights violations in Turkey either “just because we’re co-operating with them on the refugee issue.”
Under a deal with Ankara, refugees arriving in Greece from Turkey beginning Monday will be sent back to Turkey.