Erdogan accuses Germany of supporting 'terror'
ANKARA, Turkey (Kurdistan24) – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday accused Germany of supporting “terrorism” for the second time in a fortnight.
“You, on one hand, denounce PKK as a terrorist organization but on the other hand openly or secretly provide it with support,” said Erdogan of Germany in a press conference held at Ankara airport before his departure for an official visit to Pakistan.
Erdogan’s strong-worded accusation came a day after his meeting with Germany’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier, reported the Kurdistan24 bureau in the Turkish capital.
The Turkish President previously claimed Germany was “harboring terrorists,” after Chancellor Angela Merkel described a wave of arrests of journalists in Turkey as “highly alarming.”
“What kind of friendship, what kind of sincerity is that,” asked Erdogan, adding Germany was not serious enough in halting the activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) among the Kurdish diaspora.
“They always mention the fight against terror. But we are not buying these words anymore. We want action,” continued Erdogan.
Moreover, the Turkish President claimed the PKK, which has been waging a decades-long guerrilla warfare for Kurdish rights against Turkish troops, would also hit Germany “like a boomerang.”
During his visit to Ankara, Steinmeier held meetings with Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and his counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The visit was “a difficult” one for Steinmeier as “he was irritated by Turkish leaders’ accusations” according to German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel’s website.
The Social Democrat Steinmeier, who announced his candidacy for Germany’s presidency, also met with pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers Mithat Sancar, Osman Baydemir, and Ziya Pir and invited them to Berlin.
Pir was among a dozen Kurdish MPs, including HDP co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, who Turkish police arrested in house raids on Nov. 4.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany