by Giulio Meotti
There is a great void in the story of “sofagate”, as the lazily crafty have defined the humiliation that Erdogan’s Turkey inflicted on Ursula von der Leyen, who was left without a seat in Ankara. The void has a name. Her name is Angela Merkel.
Unlike Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who called Erdogan “a dictator”, the German Chancellor has not yet said a word about what happened to her party colleague in the CDU and whom she wanted to see attaining the presidency of the European Commission. It is certainly not the first time that Merkelian Germany has bitten its tongue in the face of Erdogan’s aggressions and prevarications.
A German school in Turkey has banned Christmas celebrations. This is Istanbul Lisesi, a high school that has existed for more than a century, has 35 German teachers and is financed by the German government.
Chancellor Merkel gave the okay to the request of Turkish president Erdogan who asked for a trial against the German comedian Jan Bohmermann, author of a satirical poem against her. About Merkel, Böhmermann said, “she made me fillets and served a neurotic despot for tea.” This happens because when Germany shook the sultan’s hand too tightly, he also took her arm …
The German Foreign Ministry canceled a performance by the Dresden Symphony Orchestra at the German consulate in Istanbul, which was supposed to perform “Aghet”, a piece by Marc Sinan on the Armenian genocide. It was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey had opposed the project financed by both Germany and the European Union.
Merkel has placed European refugee policy entirely in the hands of the Turkish autocrat, following the principle of “money for dirty work”. In return, Merkel was quick to keep quiet about the massive wave of political persecution in Turkey, about German self-censorship to please Ankara and now also about the humiliation of the German that Merkel has placed in charge of Brussels.
Germany, rich, pacifist and fainthearted, is the great soft underbelly of Europe. Economic giant, moral dwarf.