Two-thirds of Germans oppose Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to allow prosecutors to pursue a case against a German comedian who mocked Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a poll published on
Two-thirds of Germans oppose Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to allow prosecutors to pursue a case against a German comedian who mocked Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a poll published on Sunday showed.
Ms Merkel announced her decision on Friday after Mr Erdogan demanded that Germany press charges against Jan Boehmermann after he recited a sexually crude satirical poem about the Turkish leader on German public broadcaster ZDF on March 31.
A section of the German criminal code prohibits insults against foreign leaders but leaves it to the government to decide whether to authorise prosecutors to pursue such cases. This put Ms Merkel in an awkward position as she has been the driving force behind a European Union deal with Turkey to stem the flow of refugees into Europe.
Sunday’s survey by pollster Emnid for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper found that 66 per cent of those questioned opposed Ms Merkel’s decision to allow prosecutors to pursue the case. Only 22 per cent said she was right, with 12 per cent undecided. Emnid polled 500 people on Friday afternoon.
Ms Merkel’s decision had already divided her ruling coalition and prompted accusations that she failed to protect free speech.
The Chancellor travels to Turkey on Saturday and her centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners, who had wanted the Turkish request to be rejected, urged her to champion freedom of opinion and of the media on the trip. “Without these basic liberties, democracy is not conceivable — the Turkish government must recognise that too,” SPD secretary general Katarina Barley told the Bild am Sonntag.
Under the EU’s deal with Turkey, Ankara will help manage the refugee crisis and be rewarded with financial aid, visa-free travel and progress in its EU membership negotiations.
