'Pro-PKK rally scandal': Turkey summons German envoy
Turkey summoned Germany's ambassador to express its fury over a Frankfurt rally where protesters brandished insignia of outlawed Kurdish militants, the presidential spokesman said yesterday, denouncing it as a "scandal".
Some 30,000 pro-Kurdish protesters attended Saturday's rally where demonstrators called for a 'no' vote in an April 16 referendum on expanding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers.
Many carried symbols of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has been fighting a bitter insurgency against the Turkish state for over three decades.
"Yesterday (Saturday), Germany put its name under another scandal," presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told CNN-Turk, complaining about the open use of insignia of the "separatist terror group" -- the PKK.
"Yesterday, the German ambassador was invited -- was summoned -- to the foreign ministry and this was condemned in the strongest way."
He said the demonstrators had used the upcoming Kurdish New Year festival of Newroz as a "pretext" for the rally as the new year only falls on Tuesday.
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