'Turkish dictator' banana stirs rumpus at German fair
Chase Winter with dpa
February 23, 2018
An art piece depicting Turkish President Erdogan with a banana up his backside has been taken down at a German art fair. The artist suggested it was a challenge to freedom of expression.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Deck
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A picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a banana up his naked posterior has been taken down from a German art fair following protests that the gallery owner suggested were organized.
The piece by artist Thomas Baumgärtel, titled "Turkish dictator," was part of the "Despots Series - Trump, Kim and Erdogan" at the Art Karlsruhe fair in southwestern Germany.
The series also depicted US President Donald Trump looking like a primate with a banana in his mouth and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un riding a banana missile.
Known as the "banana sprayer," Baumgärtel has repeatedly stirred controversy with his political banana pictures.
The Cologne-based artist's work has centered around bananas for three decades Image: picture-alliance/Geisler-Fotopress
The artist announced on Twitter that the Erdogan cartoon had been taken down without him being informed by the gallery owner. He said that the Art Karlsruhe fair had no role in the decision, claiming that the gallery's owner was behind the move. Baumgärtel bemoaned a violation of freedom of expression.
'They were agents'
Gallery owner Michael Oess told the dpa news agency that a Turkish journalist had complained about the picture on Thursday, before using a phone to broadcast live video footage from the scene.
Two women also complained of "desecrating" the Turkish flag, which was in the background of the artwork.
"There was a rush to the stand. It really was a staged event," Oess said. "They were agents."
The gallery owner said he took the picture of Erdogan down due to security concerns and to avoid disturbances for visitors. The piece was bought for €5,900 ($7,254).
The incident came a day after the German-language version of the pro-government Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reported that the artwork "appears for many Turks to be a racist-vulgar attack on the Turkish president."
It also reported the exact location of the gallery stand where the picture was hanging, in Hall 2, Stand D25 of the art fair.
It was not the first time art and freedom of expression in Germany have drawn the wrath of the Turkish president and his supporters.
Why are German and Turkish relations so strained?
German-Turkish relations have deteriorated since the failed coup against Turkish President Erdogan in 2016 and the crackdown that followed. DW looks at some of the key moments that soured ties between Berlin and Ankara.
Image: picture-alliance/POP-EYE/B. Kriemann
The Böhmermann affair
March 31, 2016: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan filed charges against German comedian and satirist Jan Böhmermann over his "defamatory poem" about the Turkish leader. German prosecutors eventually dropped the charges on October 4, 2016, but the case sparked a diplomatic row between Berlin and Ankara.
German lawmakers pass resolution to recognize 1915 Armenian Genocide
June 2, 2016: The resolution passed almost unanimously. In response, Turkey recalled its ambassador in Berlin and Germany's Turkish community held protests in several German cities. Turkey had repeatedly criticized the use of the term genocide to describe the Ottoman-era Armenian killings, arguing that the number of deaths had been inflated, and that Turkish Muslims also perished in the violence.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Gallup
Tensions following failed coup in Turkey
July 15, 2016: A faction of the Turkish military tried to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but ultimately failed. Ankara accused Berlin of not taking a clear stand against the coup attempt or not doing anything about exiled preacher Fethullah Gulen's organization, who Erdogan blames for orchestrating the failed coup.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Suna
Germany criticizes post-coup purge
Immediately following the attempted coup, Turkish authorities purged the army and judiciary, detaining thousands of people. The purge expanded to include civil servants, university officials and teachers. German politicians criticize the detentions. Turkish diplomats, academics and military members fled the country and applied for asylum in Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Suna
Kurdish rallies in Cologne
Erdogan's post-coup crackdown has also been condemned by Kurdish protesters at several mass demonstrations in the west German city of Cologne. Often the rallies have called for the release of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Turkey considers to be a terror group. Ankara has accused Berlin of not doing enough to stop PKK activities.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Meissner
Arrest of German citizens in Turkey
February 14, 2017: Deniz Yücel, a correspondent for the "Welt" newspaper, was taken into custody in Turkey. Other German nationals, including journalist Mesale Tolu and human rights activist Peter Steudtner were detained in Turkey for what Berlin dubbed "political reasons." Turkey accused them of supporting terrorist organizations. All three have since been released pending trial.
March 2017: A number of German localities blocked Turkish ministers from holding rallies in their districts ahead of an April referendum in Turkey to enhance President Erdogan's powers. The Turkish leader then accused Germany of using "Nazi tactics" against Turkish citizens in Germany and visiting Turkish lawmakers. German leaders were not amused by the jibe, saying Erdogan had gone too far.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
Spying allegations
March 30, 2017: Germany accused Turkey of spying on hundreds of suspected Gulen supporters as well as over 200 associations and schools linked to the Gulen movement in Germany. Turkish asylum-seekers have since accused officials working in Germany's immigration authority (BAMF) of passing on their information to media outlets with ties to the Turkish government.
Image: Imago/Chromeorange/M. Schroeder
Erdogan urges German-Turks not to vote for 'enemies of Turkey'
August 18, 2017: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed three of Germany's main political parties as "enemies of Turkey" and told Turks living in Germany not to vote for them in September's general election. He singled out Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), the Social Democrats (SPD), and the Greens. Merkel said Erdogan was "meddling" in Germany's election.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/AA/M. Ali Ozcan
Merkel says Turkey should not become EU member
September 4, 2017: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during an election debate that she didn't think Turkey should become a member of the European Union and said she would speak with other EU leaders about ending Ankara's accession talks. In October, she backed a move to cut Turkey's pre-accession EU funds.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Turkey's military offensive in Afrin
January 20, 2018: The Turkish military and their Syrian rebel allies launched "Operation Olive Branch" against the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin in northern Syria. The move was criticized by German politicians and prompted large protests by Kurdish communities in Germany.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/O. Kose
Journalist Deniz Yücel released from prison
February 16, 2018: Turkey ordered the release of German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel after he'd been held for over a year without charge. According to Turkish state media, Yücel was released on bail from pre-trial detention. Prosecutors asked for an 18-year jail sentence for Yücel on charges of "terror propaganda" and incitement.
Image: picture-alliance/Eventpress/Stauffenberg
Özil quits
July 2018: German footballer Mesut Özil quit the national team following the fallout from his meeting with the Turkish president. Özil said he was being made a scapegoat for Germany's forgettable performance at the FIFA World Cup in Moscow because of his Turkish heritage. Erdogan praised Özil's decision and slammed the "racist" mistreatment of the footballer.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Presidential Press Service
Travel ban lifted
August 2018: A Turkish court removed the travel ban on German journalist Mesale Tolu, who was arrested last year on terrorism-related charges. But the trial against Tolu, who has since returned to Germany, is set to continue. Her husband, Suat Corlu, who is facing similar charges, has been ordered to remain in Turkey.
In March 2016, Turkey used an archaic German lese majeste law prohibiting insults against foreign heads of state to legally pursue comedian Jan Böhmermann for criticizing Erdogan's limitations on freedom of speech in Turkey. The "smear poem," as Böhmermann called it, mixed political jabs at the president with racial and flagrant personal insults, including references to child pornography and sex with animals.
In one famous case, a Turkish doctor was found guilty of insulting Erdogan for sharing pictures on Facebook suggesting the president looked like the "Lord of the Rings" character GollumImage: imago/Future Image
German prosecutors launched but later dropped a criminal investigation against Böhmermann, who argued the poem was meant to satirically show Erdogan what a real example of slander would be. It was a response to the Turkish president, who had filed hundreds of flimsy criminal complaints in his country against citizens for alleged insults, and was starting to pursue similar cases in Germany and other countries if the national laws permitted.
