Germany: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened one of Europe’s largest masajid in Germany. An Islamic religious group with close ties to the Turkish state built the Cologne’s Central Mosque. Thanking German government for pressing ahead with its construction despite protests he said the mosque in Cologne stood as a symbol of peace.
Erdogan visited Cologne, which has a large Turkish community amidst major police operation. 3 million Turks reside in Germany. Gatherings were held in Cologne both by supporters and opponents of Mr Erdogan on Saturday. President also criticised his hosts on his visit. 25000 people were to gather outside the masjid but the plan was cancelled by the authorities owing to security reasons.
As reported by Reuters, departing from his prepared remarks, the Turkish leader on Friday night, accused Germany of harbouring terrorists. Germany’s media criticised Mr Erdogan for what they called “Hate speech against Germany”.
On Friday, Mr Erdogan also met Chancellor Angela Merkel and urged him to extradite critics of his government that he sees as ‘terrorists’.