REPORT: Merkel tells Turkey to stop Nazi references; Turkey repeats comparison

Chancellor Angela Merkel told Turkey to stop invoking Berlin's Nazi past in criticizing cancellations of Turkish ministers' rallies in Germany, and said she would do everything possible to prevent Turkish domestic conflicts spilling onto German soil.
 
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who survived an army attempt to topple him in July, is working to enlist the votes of Turks abroad to clinch sweeping new powers in an April referendum. But unease is spreading in Europe over the dispatch of ministers to communities themselves sometimes deeply divided.
 
To the many people with Turkish roots who are German citizens or have lived here for a long time, I say: you are part of our country," Merkel said on Thursday.
 
"We want to do everything we can to make sure that possible internal Turkish conflicts are not carried over into this life together (here).
 
"Let us support our way of life together and even improve it where possible. That is a matter of the heart."
 
Some took a harsher line than Merkel. Andreas Scheuer, head of her CSU Bavarian sister party, said the campaigner Erdogan and his henchmen" were not wanted in Germany.
 
The dispute over cancellations has become entangled with other tensions between Turkey and its NATO allies.


REUTERS


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