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Reuters
ISTANBUL
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats were enemies of Turkey and called on Turks in Germany to vote against major parties in next month's elections.
The comments, some of Erdogan's harshest yet against Merkel, drew a furious response from Merkel, her government and some Turkish organisations in Germany, illustrating the widening divide between the NATO allies and major trade partners.
"I am calling on all my countrymen in Germany: the Christian Democrats, SDP, the Green Party are all enemies of Turkey. Support those political parties who are not enemies of Turkey,"Erdogan said after Friday prayers in Istanbul, urging ethnic Turks in Germany to"teach a lesson"to those parties.
Ties between Ankara and Berlin have been strained in the aftermath of last year's failed coup as Turkish authorities have
sacked or suspended 150,000 people and detained more than 50,000 people, including German nationals.
Germany has voiced concern that Erdogan is using the coup as a pretext to quash dissent. Erdogan, an authoritarian leader whose roots are in political Islam, has accused Germany of anti-Turkish and anti-Muslim sentiment.
Germans go to the polls on Sept. 24 for elections where Merkel is running for a fourth term. Her conservatives enjoy a comfortable lead over the Social Democrats (SPD), their current coalition partner and major rival.
