A Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hungry for votes — he has not announced his candidacy for the presidency, but is likely to — and angry with Germany over strong criticism of his policies by President Joachim Gauck during Gauck's recent visit to Turkey, is heading to Germany.

May 24 may be a crucial date, as he will appear before the Turkish community in Cologne to further his presidential ambitions and also promote Turkish-German (Turkish-European Union) relations.

Particularly in the wake of the mining disaster in Turkey that tarnished the prime minister’s image further and attracted very harsh criticism from the German press, this will be a controversial, troublesome visit to Germany. Erdogan is an unwelcome visitor for members of the German political class, irrespective of their political inclinations.

Right after his undiplomatic — to say the least, if not impolite — remarks about the German president, who has strong human rights and democratic credentials, Deutsche Welle in its roundup of German press comments commented, “The notion that Erdogan will be visiting Germany is almost unbearable for many German politicians. Rarely have so many representatives of so many different parties commented on the visit of a foreign leader — and rarely has there been so much agreement.”