President Erdogan made a fool of himself by summoning the German ambassador over a satirical video.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a man who knows many enemies. As he sees it, he is in a never-ending battle
against every imaginable kind of conspiracy:
The list of those who supposedly desire to do ill to his country is long.
Laughing about someone we are dependent upon.
The satirical television show Extra 3, from North German Broadcaster NDR, recently dared to poke fun at the Turkish
ruler in a video clip.
Set to the melody of German pop star Nena’s 1984 hit “Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann” (Somehow, somewhere, sometime),
the “Boss from the Bosporus” is satirically serenaded with lyrics referring to democratic abuses in Turkey:
Or another, exclaiming that women have the same right to be beaten by police as men.
Berlin is in a difficult spot.
At exactly the same time that the Turkish government is losing its grip of the reins in the Middle East,
they have now been handed an enormous lever by Europe.
“Be charming, for he has you in his hand,” as is sung in the Extra 3 video.
Humorless Erdogan displays his insecurity
The foreign ministry in Berlin has confirmed that the German ambassador met with Erdogan
to discuss the Extra 3 video.
A man that elevates a joke to the level of an affair of state shows a lack of self-confidence more than
anything else.
In his attempt to end the mockery, Erdogan
is showing himself to be utterly ridiculous.
Now, German diplomats are doing all they can to protect him from further embarrassment, says Matthias Bölinger.
a preacher in the USA who is pursuing a master plan to bring about his downfall, insubordinate journalists,
state prosecutors with hidden agendas, and nefarious foreign powers.
Now, the president must tolerate yet another apparent attack on his honor.
“A journalist that writes/something he doesn’t like/will end up in prison over night."
The lyrics are accompanied by film footage of female demonstrators being clubbed to
the ground with truncheons on Intenational Women’s Day.
The president, it seems, was not amused.
He already summoned the German ambassador to complain about the video last week.
For it is undeniable that Europe and especially Germany are dependent – or better, have made themselves dependent –
on Turkey’s help in the refugee crisis.
Thus, the country has instigated the resumption of EU accession talks, despite the fact that it has done away
with any semblance of democratic values at home.
The accompanying image: Angela Merkel shaking hands with the self-satisfied president.
At the meeting Germany’s representative made clear that freedom of the press
and freedom of expression must be protected.
Erdogan can only further damage his own image with such pettiness.
Moreover, he is directing an amount of attention to the video that it otherwise would never have had.
German diplomacy will never be able to protect him from his own vanity.