Berlin [Germany], Jul 6 (ANI): Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Germany that it is committing "political suicide" by repeatedly blocking his meetings with Turkish immigrants in the country.
Erdogan said that Turkey wanted to enhance its relations with Germany, but is increasingly frustrated by the "negative stance" of the German authorities toward Turkey.
"Now we will be travelling to Hamburg for the G20 meeting, and we are considering to meet with our citizens there. But German authorities are sending directives to everyone and telling that you will not allow Erdogan to speak," Anadolu quoted Erdogan's interview with German weekly Die Zeit as saying.
"That is so ugly. I have never seen something like that. Germany is committing suicide, this is a political suicide," he added.
Representatives of Germany's three million Turkish community planned to host Erdogan at a public event on the sidelines of the G20 summit July 7-8 in Hamburg.
However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has ruled out such a meeting ahead of general elections in September.
Last week, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that such a meeting would not be appropriate at this point because of recent tensions between Berlin and Ankara.
The government also adopted new controversial measures to restrict political meetings of Turkish politicians with Turks in Germany.
Erdogan, who has been a vocal critic of Germany, sharply criticized the restrictions and recalled that German authorities had recently blocked several other planned meetings. (ANI)
This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI