Ankara Lambasts Germany's Ban on Erdogan's Speech Broadcasting at Cologne Rally

Turkey considers the decision of a German court to ban broadcasting of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's speech at a rally in Cologne on Sunday "unacceptable," presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Sunday.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the German Constitutional Court imposed a ban on broadcasting of Erdogan's speech at the Cologne rally in support of the Turkish government after a recent coup attempt. Up to 30,000 people are expected to take part in the rally.

"The fact that the Germany Constitutional Court banned broadcasting of President Erdogan's speech in a video conference format to the participants of a rally in support of democracy and against the coup in Cologne, which hosts lot of political parties, and a large number of Turkish and German citizens is unacceptable," Kalin was quoted as saying by the Anadolu news agency.

He noted that Ankara wondered why the German authorities and the Constitution Court had imposed a ban on broadcasting of Erdogan's address to the public, who prevented the coup attempt and was waiting for explanations.

On July 15, an attempt to overthrow the government took place in Turkey, it was suppressed the following day. Over 240 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured during the failed coup excluding the victims among the plotters, according to the country's authorities.