Erdogan riles Austrian hosts in visit to Vienna
In his visit to rally expatriate Turks in Austria for his likely presidential campaign, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments annoyed Austrian leaders, a replay of the prime minister’s visit to Germany last month.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has earned himself an international reputation for his harsh and divisive manners, has caused tensions in Ankara’s ties with Vienna this time.
The reason was his visit to Austria, aimed at gathering support among the estimated 250,000 Turks living in that country, as his party’s candidate for the Turkish presidential elections to be held in August. Erdogan has still not announced his intention to run, although it is assumed within his Justice and Development Party (AKP) and outside it that he will.
Erdogan irked the German government at the end of May over a similar visit to Cologne, despite calls by the German media and German politicians for him to stay away, citing his anti-democratic and divisive ways.
Steffen Seibert, spokesman for the government of Angela Merkel, warned Erdogan prior to his visit, “to show a sense of responsibility and sensitivity at this appearance [in Cologne].”
