German prosecutors are examining the possibility that a satirist broke a law making it illegal to insult foreign leaders. Jan Bohermann read a “crude poem” on his television show insulting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan that provoked the Turkish government to demand that Bohmermann be prosecuted. Chancellor Angela Merket is wary of insulting Erdogan after the Germans agreed recently on a plan to stop the flow of migrants to Europe. (The New York Times, April 12, 2015, by Alison Smale)
The German government defended the poem as within the bounds of free speech but has criticized it for being “deliberately offensive.” While treading carefully with Erdogan, the Germans have also made it clear that Merkel was staunch in her support of free speech. (The Washington Post, April 11, 2016, by Geir Moulson of the Associated Press)
Erdogan recently demonstrated his low regard for the press and free speech by attacking newspapers, academics and legislators who dared criticize him. Erdogan has gained support in Turkey for his crackdown on free speech by citing the real threat of terrorism and bogus foreign and domestic conspiracies. (The Washington Post, March 31, 2016, by Nick Danforth)