On March 2, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag was supposed to speak at a big public rally organized by the Turkish community in Gaggenau, a southwestern German town. The event was designed to garner more “yes” votes from the 3 million Turks living in Germany for the upcoming constitutional referendum in Turkey. Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ruling strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, already enjoy widespread support within the German diaspora, and Bozdag was apparently hoping to give that mandate an additional boost.
However, at the last moment, the event was canceled. The Gaggenau municipality declared that the hall allocated for the rally was withdrawn due to concerns about “parking space.” Back in Turkey nobody believed this and everyone believed the decision was politically motivated censorship in response to Turkey’s detainment of Deniz Yucel, a German-Turkish journalist who has written several articles critical of the Turkish government. Erdogan slammed Germany for silencing a Turkish minister, while giving all the free space to Turkey’s enemies. Erdogan also remarked that in the past his participation at a rally via a video conference was blocked by Germany’s Constitutional Court — marking “a phenomenon not seen anywhere in the world” and a blunt attack on free speech. In a later speech, he even condemned Germany for “fascist actions” that were reminiscent of the Nazi era.