BERLIN — Germany’s foreign ministry has warned Turkey that members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s security detail who were involved in a brawl in Washington last month “are not welcome in Germany.”
The announcement comes ahead of the G20 summit in Germany next week, which Erdogan is expected to attend.
Those warnings were then repeated to Bundestag (Germany’s Parliament) members in closed-door meetings, respected national daily Die Welt reported.
The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said earlier that foreign powers did not hold sovereign powers, saying “foreign colleagues only have the right to self-defense,” the paper reported.
Hamburg Senator Andy Grote told Die Welt: “On our streets, only the Hamburg police have a say — and no one else. This includes foreign security forces.”
Turkish security officials — including some of Erdogan’s personal guards were charged with assault after an attack on protesters in Washington, DC on May 16.
German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said foreign leaders were welcome to bring their own bodyguards to meetings in Germany but that the law must be respected. With regard to the Turkish security officers, he added: “I have reason to expect that these people, who have been incriminated by the American criminal justice (system) will not step onto German soil in the foreseeable future, including during the G20 summit.”
