EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday criticised Turkey for its reaction to a German satirist and vowed not to yield on European values in order to preserve a crucial deal with Ankara to stem migr
EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday criticised Turkey for its reaction to a German satirist and vowed not to yield on European values in order to preserve a crucial deal with Ankara to stem migrant flows.
Mr Juncker told the European Parliament that dialogue is the only way to tackle issues with Turkey, including the row over a German TV satirist who crudely insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Berlin is weighing a Turkish request to have the satirist be prosecuted for slander in Germany, but Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that the issue is separate from the migrant deal.
“I cannot understand at all that a German ambassador is summoned for an admittedly difficult satirical song,” Mr Juncker told the legislators in the French city of Strasbourg.
“That does not bring Turkey closer to us, but will put us farther away from each other,” said Mr Juncker, the head of the European Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation EU.
German prosecutors last week opened a preliminary probe against comedian Jan Boehmermann, 35, who accused Mr Erdogan of having sex with goats and sheep while gleefully admitting he was flouting Germany’s legal limits on free speech.
The comedian was reacting to Ankara’s decision to summon Germany’s ambassador in protest in March over a previous satirical song which lampooned Mr Erdogan in far tamer language.
