A majority of Germans do not approve of the idea of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivering a speech to Turkish immigrants in the country during a visit he plans to pay to Germany in September, according to the results of a public survey published by the German Bild newspaper on Tuesday.
The survey was conducted by the Insa polling company for Bild with the participation of 2.042 respondents.
A total of 65.8 percent of respondents said they are against Erdoğan holding an event meant for people of Turkish origin in the country during his visit, while 14.5 percent of respondents said they are not against Erdoğan delivering a public speech to the Turkish community.
Another 19.8 percent of respondents said “no answer” or “no idea” in response to the question about Erdoğan making a speech.
Erdoğan will pay an official visit to Berlin Sept.27-29 upon an invitation from German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The Turkish president’s spokesperson, İbrahim Kalın, who visited Berlin last week ahead of Erdoğan’s visit, said Erdoğan wants to appeal to Turks in Germany and is seeking an agreement with the German side to this end.
Kalın said Erdoğan may speak to a gathering of Turks either in Berlin or Cologne.
Germany is home to around 3 million people of Turkish origin. Over the past years, tension has erupted between Ankara and Berlin due to some Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials’ desire to hold election rallies for Turkish expats in the country.