The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has brought an action against Mathias Depfner, the head of one of the largest media companies in Germany Axel Springer AG, for expressed words of support to the German satirist Ian Bemerman who had cited an insulting poem about the Turkish President on ZDF TV channel , reports Deutsche Welle.
The Turkish government required to impose a ban on Depfner, after he said he was laughing at jokes about Erdogan. In case the ban is applied, it will not allow Depfner to make any statements about Bemerman. In addition, Erdogan also plans to file a lawsuit to the Superior Court if the ban is not satisfied, said the lawyer of the Turkish president Ralph Hecker.
On April 10 the Turkish government requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany to initiate a criminal case against the TV host Jan Bemerman . After that, the Justice Minister of Germany Heiko Maas replied that the issue of whether Bemerman’s poem is a satire or a slander will be considered in a prejudicial inquiry. He noted that the trial against Bemerman will be held in any case.
Bemerman cited the poem on March 31 at Neo Magazin Royale show on German TV channel ZDF. In his satire, the author accused the Turkish leader of oppressing Kurds and Christians , as well as closing opposition newspapers.
