German Minister Tells Turkey to Tone Down After ‘Nazi’ Jibe

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s influential finance minister says it’s in “everyone’s interest” to avoid a further escalation in tensions between Berlin and Ankara and that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would help by toning down his rhetoric.

Diplomatic tensions have risen in recent days over Turkey’s plans to have government ministers address rallies in Germany and the Netherlands in support of a national referendum that would give Erdogan more powers.

German municipalities have canceled several of the events, prompting Erdogan to accuse German officials of “Nazi practices.”

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, a close adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel, told reporters Tuesday its “appalling” that such a statement came from a country’s leader.

He says “it would be clever if President Erdogan were to possibly find a way to quickly resolve this.”