Germany summons Turkish envoy, warns Erdogan’s AKP over hate speech

Germany summons Turkish envoy, warns Erdogan’s AKP over hate speech
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German Foreign Ministry denounced AKP deputy Mustafa Acikgoz’s election speech, warning that those who do not “play by the rules” will suffer the consequences, as the election campaigns of Turkish representatives are subjected to permission.

German Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned Turkey’s ambassador to Berlin, strongly denouncing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP deputy’s election speech in Neuss that urged the audience to “find and destroy the terrorists in the holes they’re hiding” in Germany.

Reminding that the election campaigns of Turkish representatives are subjected to permission, Germany warned that those who do not “play by the rules” will suffer the consequences, Deutsche Welle Turkish reported.

Also warning against the content of AKP deputy Mustafa Acikgoz’s speech, “There is no place for incitement and hate speech in Germany,” the Ministry said.

Acikgoz on Friday addressed the supporters of Erdogan’s far right governing ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in Germany, urging them "to be vigilant" and "not to tolerate" members and sympathizers of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Gulen Movement, both designated as terrorist organizations by Ankara.

"We did not let them survive in Turkey. By God's will we'll find them in their holes wherever they are hiding in the world, and we'll destroy them. Don't you have any doubt about that. The only thing we need is our unity," he said.

Mustafa Acikgoz's address came days after Germany’s Domestic Intelligence Agency BfV warned that Turkish nationalist movement in Germany posed one of the greatest threats to the democratic order in the country.