The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is suing the Vice-Chairman of the German Bundestag and the head of the Liberal Party partnering with the German government, Wolfgang Kubicki, for calling him a "ditch rat" during a political event.
Kubiki uttered the nickname during a district election rally, when he referred to the policy of the intentional referral of refugees from Turkey to the territories of the European Union as a means of pressure on European countries.
In the lawsuit filed on Erdogan's behalf, it is claimed that this is not a legitimate criticism of any policy, but a deliberate libel of particular gravity, since it was also said on "religious grounds".
In protest of the Bundestag vice president's statement, the Turkish government summoned the German ambassador in Ankara for a reprimand. German law allows German citizens who deliberately insulted the honor of foreign leaders to be prosecuted.
Kubicki, the vice-chairman of the Liberal Party - the minor partner in the center-left government in Berlin, reacted to the lawsuit calmly, noting that, unlike Turkey, Germany is a country of law where there is freedom of opinion and expression. Kubicki added that the canal rat is "a small, cute, smart and cunning creature, And that's why he also appears in many children's stories and fairy tales."
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