Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in Germany for a three-day state visit. Several demos are planned around the capital Berlin as the Turkish president prepares for a state banquet and a mosque opening in Cologne.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan landed in Berlin’s Tegel airport around midday on Thursday to begin a controversial visit, decorated with full state honors, while thousands of demonstrators got ready to express their anger at the leader’s authoritarian rule.
Large parts of central Berlin were shut down for the trip, partly to provide a security cordon around the chancellery, the president’s Bellevue palace, and the historic Adlon hotel, where Erdogan and his entourage are staying, and partly to make space for several major demos.The nature of the demos reflect the many human rights issues that Erdogan’s long-term rule in Turkey have produced.
Organizations representing journalists and various minorities in Turkey, including Kurds and Alevites, have called protests, while an alliance of left-wing organizations is staging a protest march through the city entitled “Erdogan Not Welcome,” at which 10,000 people are expected.
During the course of the three-day trip, Erdogan will have two meetings and a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He is also set to receive military honors at Berlin’s Bellevue Palace, where he will be German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s guest of honor at a state banquet on Friday evening.
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