08 December 2016•Update: 08 December 2016
By Ali Kemal Akan
ANKARA
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus has said Turkey expects Germany to take action against officials responsible for mistreating a Turkish lawmaker at a German airport earlier this week.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital Ankara on Thursday, Kurtulmus termed the incident as “unacceptable and a violation” of diplomatic courtesy.
Kurtulmus’ remarks came after the Turkish parliament Deputy Speaker, Ayse Nur Bahcekapili, was stopped by police at Cologne airport in Germany on Monday.
“The mistreatment of Bahcekapili [by the German police] cannot be acceptable in terms of friendship and diplomatic practice...We expect Germany to find out the officials responsible for such treatment and take action against them.
“If it is not done, I should clearly state that it is a scandal, a diplomatic shame. Turkey will retaliate for such shame and diplomatic fault. Everyone should be aware of that. I want to say this clearly,” the deputy premier said.
On Wednesday, Bahcekapili told Anadolu Agency after her bag containing her passport went missing, the Turkish embassy provided her with a temporary travel document. However, police officers at the airport did not accept the temporary passport, made her wait and attempted to detain her, suspecting the Justice and Development (AK) Party lawmaker of having entered the country illegally.
"It was impolite in terms of my country… I am a lawmaker of this country [Turkey]. If we show respect and courtesy to German or foreign parliamentarians, we have a natural right to expect respect and courtesy in the same way," she said.
On Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also hit out at the German authorities. "If you behave towards my deputy parliament speaker, a female lawmaker, like this, if your police officer does this, then I need to retaliate to it in the same way.”
