Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday arrived at Hamburg’s Atlantic Hotel where he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
Erdogan arrived in Hamburg a day after saying he didn’t regret accusing Germany of “Nazi-like” behaviour during an interview with France 24.
Erdogan has accused Germany of “fascist actions” reminiscent of Nazi times in a row over the cancellation of political rallies aimed at drumming up support for him among 1.5 million Turkish citizens in Germany during a referendum campaign in March.
Ties between Berlin and Ankara have soured over the past year due to disagreements on a range of political and security issues, including Turkey’s jailing of a German-Turkish journalist and its refusal to let German lawmakers visit German troops at a Turkish air base.
The European Parliament called on Thursday for Turkey’s European Union accession talks to be suspended if Ankara fully implements plans to expand Erdogan’s powers, in a vote which Turkey dismissed as flawed and wrong.