On May 14th there will be elections in Turkey. Turks in Germany are already allowed to vote. Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to be re-elected as president. In addition, he is apparently also campaigning in Germany.
Photos on Twitter show election posters for Erdogan’s AKP party in Nuremberg, Bavaria. Shown on it: A smiling Erdogan with the motto “Doğru Zaman, Doğru Adam” (English: “The right time, the right man”). The human rights activist and former Greens member of the Bundestag Volker Beck asks on Twitter: “Who allows something like that?”.
About 1.5 million Turks are entitled to vote in Germany. The posters hung in the Nuremberg district of St. Peter, as the “image” reported. When asked by the newspaper, the city approved a total of 25 election posters.
“In 2017, the German interior minister promised that there was no such thing. Now it is happening. The Turkish election campaign has no place on our streets,” Beck explained to the “Bild”. “Turkish parties do not enjoy party privileges in Germany.”
Erdogan wants to take action against the LGBT community
Beck is bothered by the fact that public space is “made available for the posters of a declared enemy of enlightenment, minority rights and women’s rights,” the tabloid quotes him as saying. During the election campaign, Erdogan announced that he wanted to take “active” action against the LGBT community in Turkey.
“German politics must finally wake up: Erdogan and AKP are anti-democrats. Anyone who supports them also poisons the political climate in Germany,” demands Beck in the “Bild”.
The Turkish voting offices in Germany are open until May 9th. Erdogan must fear for his re-election. Most recently, Erdogan made the headlines with speculation about his state of health.
On Saturday he appeared publicly for the first time in days after several campaign appearances were canceled. A live interview with Erdogan on Turkish television was suddenly cut short last Tuesday.
With his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a broad opposition alliance has put forward a strong candidate. Polls see a neck-and-neck race. In addition to the presidency, the Turkish parliament is also up for election. (tsp)
