Ankara: After three EU countries banned Turkish politicians from campaigning on their soil, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to rally in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) decided to hold a rally in Bosnia’s capital afterAustria, the Netherlands, and Germany – home to Turkey’s largest diaspora – announced that Turkish politicians were not welcome to campaign there.
Erdogan’s rally in Sarajevo – the only one to be held in Europe – comes ahead of the snap Turkish parliamentary and presidential elections, set for June 24.
The six million Turks living abroad, mostly in Western Europe carry a large clout; since 2014, about half of them have been able to vote in Turkish elections. There are 1.4 million eligible Turkish voters in Germany alone.
But the last time Erdogan attempted to rally in Europe, it ended in a fiasco.
In March 2017, ahead of the referendum on expanding presidential powers held that summer, Dutch authorities blocked Turkey’s family affairs minister from entering the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam and cancelled Erdogan’s rally, citing security concerns.
Germany also imposed bans on security grounds.
This time, however, European politicians announced ahead of time that there was a clear ban on Turkish campaigning in their countries.
“Erdogan’s Turkish leadership has been trying to exploit Europe’s communities of Turkish origin for many years,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told a local radio station in April.
Although Bosnia is not in the EU, Erdogan’s choice of Sarajevo has still stirred debate among the Bosnian public.
