BERLIN/MUNICH (Reuters) — A row broke out on Sunday, February 18, between a leading German politician of Turkish origin and Turkey’s delegation at the Munich Security Conference, with the lawmaker being given police protection after what he said was a tense encounter with Turkish bodyguards.
Cem Ozdemir, co-leader of Germany’s ecologist Greens until late last month and a critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said he was given protection at the conference after police told him Turkish security, staying in the same hotel, had accused him of being a “terrorist”.
“(The police) told me there was a problem with Turkish security, that they had pointed out that a terrorist, or a member of a terrorist organization, was staying (in the hotel) -so me,” Ozdemir told reporters after returning to Berlin.
He said that when he checked into his Munich hotel on Friday, Turkish bodyguards had cast nervous looks and pointed at him. On Saturday morning, a group of officers from the Bavarian police were outside his door to protect him, he said.
Munich police said in a statement they gave protection to a number of people at the conference, including Ozdemir, but could not confirm what Turkish delegates may have said about him.
Welt am Sonntag (https://www.welt.de/politik/article173694204/Mu ) newspaper reported that the Turkish delegation to the conference was staying at the same hotel as Ozdemir.