Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik’s remarks on the anti-coup rally in Germany and anti-Türkiye sign in Austria

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik criticized the German court decision to prevent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from addressing a rally in Cologne. In a series of tweets, he said the ruling by the Constitutional Court, which upheld the decision of a local court that Erdogan could not address the rally celebrating the defeat of the July 15 coup via video link, was “an utter backsliding in freedom of speech and democracy”.

Minister Ömer Çelik added that it was “such a shame to see that [the] EU fails in upholding democracy and showing solidarity with a candidate country in the face of a coup threat”.

Minister Ömer Çelik underlined that the decision to ban Erdogan was “completely against democratic values” and added “This court decision also goes against freedom of speech and right to assembly.”

Minister Ömer Çelik also reacted to the anti-Türkiye sign that was displayed at the Vienna Airport on Sunday by stating “The scandalous sign at the Vienna Airport to discourage Türkiye travel is sheer hostility and also against EU values”.