By Steve Sailer
04/16/2016
As the disastrousness of Chancellor Merkel’s decision last August to invite in a million Muslim mob becomes ever more obvious, globalist grandees like George Soros and John McCain have been casting about for an opportunity to blame Vladimir Putin. But it’s increasingly clear that Dr. Merkel instead handed power to Putin’s Turkish counterpart and rival, Tayyip Erdogan. From the NYT:
Germany’s Merkel Criticized for Allowing Prosecution of Comedian Who Mocked ErdoganThis is the 1871 law of imperial Germany against lèse-majesté toward foreign rulers.By REUTERS APRIL 15, 2016, 12:48 P.M. E.D.T.
BERLIN — Germany’s Angela Merkel agreed on Friday to allow prosecutors to pursue a case against a German comedian who mocked Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan, prompting accusations that she had failed to protect free speech and dividing her ruling coalition.
Erdogan had demanded that Germany press charges against Jan Boehmermann after he recited a poem about the Turkish leader in a show on German public broadcaster ZDF on March 31, suggesting he hits girls, watches child pornography and engages in bestiality.
A section of the German criminal code prohibits insults against foreign leaders but leaves it to the government to decide whether to authorize prosecutors to pursue such cases.
This put Merkel in an awkward position. She has been the driving force behind a controversial European Union deal with Turkey to stem the flow of refugees into Europe and critics have already accused her of ignoring violations of human rights and press freedoms in Turkey to secure its cooperation.Turkey’s not a bad country; Erdogan isn’t the worst strongman in the world. But is there anything in history dumber than the German Chancellor, at the apogee of Federal Republic of Germany’s power, deciding to pursue a strategy that, in effect, gives the whip hand over her nation to a dodgy Turkish Islamist politician? Germany’s GDP is 4.3 times Turkey’s GDP, so why is Turkey suddenly in charge?The chancellor made clear in a statement that the decision to allow prosecutors to investigate was not a verdict on the merits of the case itself.
But she came under fire from the Social Democrats (SPD), her center-left coalition partner, which had wanted the Turkish request to be rejected. With her cabinet split on the matter, Merkel had the casting vote. …
Presenting her decision in a televised statement, Merkel said: “Turkey is a country with which Germany has close and friendly ties.”…
Kai Diekmann, publisher of Germany’s mass-selling daily newspaper Bild, responded with a commentary under the headline “In Erdogan’s Hand” in which he asked: “Has Germany, with the Turkey deal, made itself susceptible to blackmail?”
Diekmann added: “When (the chancellor) travels to Turkey next week, she must say to her host’s face how terrible things are in Turkey with freedom of opinion and of the press.”
Merkel travels to Turkey with top EU officials on April 23.
Sahra Wagenknecht, of the far-left Linke party, accused Merkel of kowtowing to the “Turkish despot” Erdogan. …
In giving her statement, Merkel pressed Turkey — a candidate for European Union membership — to uphold the values of freedom of expression, the press and art.
She also made reference to the three million people with Turkish roots who live in Germany, the strong economic ties between the countries and their cooperation as NATO allies.
This was a world-historical own goal that Ms. Merkel committed last summer, and we need to have a frank conversation about what’s wrong with the zeitgeist that made it seem like a good idea at the time.
[Comment at Unz.com]This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.