ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey's foreign minister says forces within the state in Germany are working to prevent Turkish leaders from campaigning to get Turks living in Germany to vote 'yes' in an upcoming referendum to increase the president's powers.
Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments Friday, a day after local authorities in southwestern Germany withdrew permission for the Turkish justice minister to use a venue for a political rally.
Turkey summoned the German ambassador in protest at the move, which German authorities said was due to insufficient space at the venue.
Cavusoglu cited previous incidents where Turkish officials were blocked, and said: "this has become a systematic practice of the German deep state."
He accused this "deep state" of working in favor of "no" votes to "prevent a strong Turkey."
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