"Yesterday we received an official request from Turkey, saying that Erdogan, as he formulated it himself, wants to speak to his compatriots. When I heard about this two weeks ago, I said at once that we do not consider it a good idea," Gabriel told reporters at the 14th Conference of Russian and German Partner Cities in Russia's southern city of Krasnodar.
Gabriel added that Turks living in Germany were a part of their society, noting that most of them had German citizenship. The foreign minister continued by stressing that other countries should not be allowed to bring their domestic conflicts to Germany.
"We think that not only Turkey, but all the countries, which do not belong to the European Union, should not spark a political struggle in our country three months prior to their elections… That is why we consider that this issue [holding a meeting with Turkish expats] does not go in line with the event," Gabriel said.
He noted that Erdogan nevertheless remained an important guest of the G20 summit.
The G20 summit will be held in the German city of Hamburg on July 7-8. On Sunday, German authorities said that Erdogan's bodyguards, who were prosecuted by the United States for attacking protesters, should not accompany the president to the G20 summit.
In March, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland banned rallies held by Turkish officials aimed at gaining support from Turkish citizens living abroad in the referendum to expand the president's powers. Following the bans, Erdogan compared German, and later Dutch authorities to Nazis.
