German President Steinmeier’s “Exile” speech might anger Erdoğan

When I sat down at my computer in the morning, my intention was to write about the crush of the plane reportedly carrying Yevgeni Prigojin, the head of the Russian mercenary army Wagner, on the Moscow-St. Petersburg route on the evening of 23 August, exactly two months after he revolted against Russian Army. However, the news that covers German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s speech at the cultural evening “On Loss and Refuge. Exile.” On 23 August changed my mind.

For the headlines, Turkish news agencies chose the parts of his speech where he mentioned Osman Kavala and Ahmet Altan, who are imprisoned intellectuals in Türkiye.

Kavala and Aakan were not the focus of the president’s speech, they were just examples. He spoke, first, reminisced “German patriots” who had to flee Germany during the Nazi era and worked in the armies and secret services of other countries to overthrow the Nazi regime. He then mentioned Kavala and Altan as “patriots who have not found a safe haven,” addressing the artists in the crowd listening to him, “who have found refuge here with us in Germany.”

It was a problematic speech.

Steinmeier, refuge, exile

When I read it, I concluded that it would not be easy for President Tayyip Erdoğan to get at least Germany’s approval for his demand for the resumption of membership negotiations with the European Union (EU), the renewal of the Customs Union, or at least visa facilitation, as a condition for Sweden’s NATO membership by pointing out the geopolitical importance of Türkiye and the migrants.

Steinmeier started his speech titled “Exile” at the “On Loss and the Future” event with the concept of migration and exile in the Bible. He mentioned the concept of exile in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, i.e. in all three Semitic and Abrahamic religions, and the importance of having to leave one’s homeland because of one’s beliefs.

Then he went directly to the subject of Germany. He explained that under the Nazi regime, some of the best intellectuals and artists of the country, who were not able to express their ideas and perform their art, had to leave Germany and go into voluntary exile. The example he gave was the socialist writer Stefan Heym, who fled the country and fought in the uniform of the American army after the Reichstag fire, which the Nazis had set. He multiplied examples from Thomas Mann to Marlene Dietrich.

“Exiles” and “refugees” in Germany

The German President criticised Germany’s Nazi past so harshly and praised those who fled the Nazi past and fought against it abroad, even under other flags, that it was as if he wanted to prevent anyone from reminding today’s Germany of its Nazi past.

“I’m delighted that we have artists among us today who have found refuge here with us in Germany,” he continued in his speech, hailing the names of those “who are not among” them.

“Among those who have found refuge with us are not just great and important artists, but people who have fought passionately for their country, like those who had to leave Germany in another age,” he said, then hailed the names of those “who are not among them.”

He mentioned Masha Amini, who died after being beaten and detained by the morality police in Iran. Then Osman Kavala and Ahmet Altan from Türkiye. And also Maria Kalosnikava, an opposition musician imprisoned in Belarus, and Maxim Znak, a lawyer also in prison.

Steinmeier’s speech did not include a separate appeal to Iran and Türkiye. But he addressed Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko saying: “You are responsible for the lives of these people.”

At the end of his speech, he greeted “I am pleased that they are among us”, and among the names he greeted was one from Türkiye, the writer Aslı Erdoğan.

It is good that President Erdoğan says he wants to open a new page with the EU, but it seems difficult to realise this by simply emphasising Türkiye’s geopolitical importance. It is important to realise that concepts such as human rights, independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press are still in vogue.

But there is also the other side of the coin.

Did Steinmeier do well?

It is one thing for Steinmeier to compare the situation of the asylum seekers he hosted in his country with the emigrants in the history of religions; but it is completely another thing for him to compare them with those who fled the Nazi regime and became soldiers and spies of other countries in order to overthrow it. This is a problematic view.

First of all, it puts journalists, writers, artists, politicians and intellectuals who are currently in Germany or other countries for reasons such as political pressure and freedom of expression under serious suspicion. This is what the governments in Türkiye, Iran and Russia are looking for, because they are ready to label every dissident or fugitive as a saboteur or spy.

Secondly, not everyone to whom Germany granted asylum after the 15 July 2016 coup attempt was civilian intellectuals who said they could not stay in Türkiye for political or ideological reasons. Germany granted political asylum to some 400 Turkish officers, i.e. NATO officers, after the coup attempt in their own country. This is an abuse of the concept of political asylum. It also raises the question whether those former Turkish officers who received asylum in Germany are now working for the German army and/or secret service. I am not referring to the civilian suspects of the coup attempt who are still being sought, but to the military officers who sought political asylum after a military coup attempt.

Thirdly, in the Turkish context, Steinmeier’s speech would put the detainees and prisoners of the Gezi Trial in a more difficult situation, where both the AKP administration and the judiciary are looking for Western secret services, including Germany.

Fourthly, in a more general context, Steinmeier’s examples are comparable to the Nazi regime that dragged not only his country and its people but also the world into a war. If he thinks so, he should come out and say openly whether he compares Türkiye to the Nazi regime. This is an outburst that also damages the struggle for democracy in Türkiye. I am sure it will be discussed.