THE PRESIDENT OF TURKEY, TAYYIP ERDOGAN, IS HAVING ISSUES
WITH A GERMAN COMEDIAN.
WHAT?
WHY IN THE WORLD DOES THE PRESIDENT OF TURKEY CARE ABOUT A
COMEDIAN IN GERMANY.
HE MADE JOKES ABOUT THE PRESIDENT OF
TURKEY.
UNACCEPTABLE.
HERE IN AMERICA, THIS SEEMS
PREPOSTEROUS.
I THINK THAT IT MIGHT SEEM PREPOSTEROUS IN
GERMANY AND MANY OTHER COUNTRIES AS WELL.
1ST OF ALL, WHY DO YOU
CARE?
YOU HAVE A WHOLE COUNTRY TO RUN.
YOUR COUNTRY.
WORRYING ABOUT WHAT A COMEDIAN SAYS ABOUT YOU IN ANOTHER
COUNTRY?
NOT ONLY IS HE WORRIED ABOUT WHAT THE COMEDIAN
SAID, HE IS WORRIED THAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE GOING TO PRINT IT, SO
ERDOGAN SUED IN GERMANY, TO MAKE OTHERS CANíT PRINT AND HE
JUST LOST OUT.
LET ME GIVE YOU THE DETAILS ON THAT.
A GERMAN
COURT ON TUESDAY REJECTED A REQUEST BY TURKISH PRESIDENT
TAYYIP ERDOGAN FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION PREVENTING THE HEAD
OF GERMAN PUBLISHING FROM REPEATING A DEROGATORY
TERM.
ERDOGANíS LAWYER GOT INVOLVED AND TOLD REUTERS THAT
ERDOGAN HAD SOUGHT THE INJECTION AFTER
PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR A CONTROVERSIAL POEM READ
OUT LOUD BY COMEDIAN JAN BOEHMERMANN ON GERMAN TELEVISION IN MARCH.
THIS GUY HAS WAY TOO MUCH TIME ON HIS HANDS.
HE IS WATCHING
GERMAN TV, HE'S LIKE THERE'S A COMEDIAN ON THAT I DIDN'T LIKE.
I
LIKE GEORGE LOPEZ BETTER.
I DON'T LIKE THAT B÷HMERMANN GUY,
LET'S HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THE LEADER OF GERMANY AND MAKE SURE
THE OTHER PRESS DOESN'T WRITE THE JOKES.
YOU SHOULD BE TAKING
CARE OF VERY IMPORTANT MATTERS LIKE THEORETICALLY FIGHTING
ISIS.
YOU MIGHT WANT TO ATTEND TO THOSE.
HE LOSES IN THIS
CASE, BUT WHAT IS AMAZING, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE AN
AMERICAN, YOU MIGHT BE VERY SURPRISED ABOUT THE GERMAN LAWS
IN THE SITUATION.
HE MIGHT WIN AGAINST THE ACTUAL COMEDIAN BECAUSE
UNDER GERMANY'S CRIMINAL CODE, INSULTS AGAINST FOREIGN LEADERS
ARE NOT ALLOWED - BUT THE GOVERNMENT CAN DECIDE WHETHER TO
AUTHORIZE PROSECUTORS TO GO AHEAD.
VERY BIZARRE THING.
WHAT WOULD YOU CARE IF GERMANS CRITICIZE YOU FOR?
DO NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT WOULD DO SO SACO SAGO.
IT'S A BIZARRE RULE IF YOU ASK ME, BUT THE GOVERNMENT HAS
TO LET PROSECUTORS GO AHEAD ON THAT ISSUE AND IN THIS CASE,
ANGELA MERKEL DID AND THAT IS WHY PEOPLE ARE MAD AT HER
INSIDE GERMANY, SAYING YOU SHOULDNíT BE STICKING UP FOR THIS GUY.
THE COURT SAID THAT ITS DECISION DID NOT ADDRESS THE LEGALITY OF
B÷HMERMANN POEM WHICH IS STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION.
THIS
POEM ñ AT THIS POINT, YOU HAVE TO BE WONDERING WITH THE POEM
SAID, AND WE HAVE A TRASCRIPT.
I DON'T LIVE IN GERMANY, AND I THINK THE IDEA
THAT INSULTING FOREIGN LEADERS IS PUNISHABLE BY LAW IS
PREPOSTEROUS, SO I WILL SHARE THE POEM WITH YOU.
HE WROTE THE
MAN WHO BEATS GIRLS, REFERRING TO ERDOGAN, HE'S A COMEDIAN
AND I THINK HE'S LARGELY JOKING ABOUT SOME OF THIS, HE WRITES
THE MAN WHO BEATS GIRLS, HAS SEX WITH GOATS,
AND SUPPRESSES MINORITIES, KICKS KURDS, HITS CHRISTIANS, AND
WATCHES CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.
IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT THAT, AND
HE WAS SAYING IT ABOUT A CITIZEN, YOU COULD HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT
SLANDER, BUT THIS GUYíS A LEADER OF A COUNTRY.
IF YOU LIVE IN A
DEMOCRACY, YES, PEOPLE SAY BAD THINGS ABOUT THE LEADERS.
THAT
IS HOW IT WORKS.
IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT, THEN YOU SHOULD BE IN
A DICTATORSHIP.
WHICH IS KIND OF WHERE WE ARE HEADED HERE.
THAT SEEMS LIKE A THING TO SAY.
LET ME BACK IT UP FOR YOU GUYS.
WITH HOW MUCH HE IS CRACKED ON THE PRESS.
IF YOU DON'T WANT
ANY DISSENT, YOU DON'T REALLY WANT A DEMOCRACY, WHAT DO YOU
DO?
HE GOT TO THE MEDIA.
ERDOGAN IS SO POWERMAD NOW HE
IS GOING AFTER THE MEDIA IN OTHER COUNTRIES.
THAT I'VE
NEVER SEEN.
ERDOGAN IS KNOWN FOR HIS SENSITIVITY TO
CRITICISM AND TURKEYíS PROSECUTORS HAVE OPENED OVER
1800 CASES AGAINST PEOPLE FOR INSULTING HIM SINCE HE BECAME
PRESIDENT IN 2014.
HE WAS PRIME MINISTER FOR A LONG TIME BEFORE
THAT.
JUST IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, THEY HAVE BROUGHT 1800
CASES OF INSULTING THE PRESIDENT.
THAT'S NOT
DEMOCRACY.
I DON'T KNOW IF PEOPLE IN TURKEY RECOGNIZE THAT.
I SUSPECT THAT A LOT OF THEM DO, BUT HE IS SLOWLY
STRANGLING THAT DEMOCRACY IN ITS CRIB.
TURKEY HAS BEEN A
DEMOCRACY SINCE 1943.
A FLOURISHING DEMOCRACY, HAD A
FEMALE PRESIDENT, HAS DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT, HAS
CHECKS AND BALANCES.
IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST SECULAR COUNTRIES IN
THE WORLD, BUT NOW WE HAVE A GUY WHO IS A FUNDAMENTALIST AND WHO
SAYS ANYBODY WHO DARES INSULT HIM IS GOING TO BE PUT IN JAIL.
ONE MORE THING, BECAUSE I FOUND IT ABSURD THAT THE TURKISH
LEADER HAS REPEATEDLY SAID HIS OPPONENTS ARE FREE TO CRITICIZE
HIM BUT THAT THOSE WHO STRAY INTO INSULT WILL FACE LEGAL ACTION.
OH, I SEE.
YOU ARE ALLOWED TO CRITICIZE HIM, JUST DON'T
INSULT HIM.
WHERE IS THAT LINE?
IT SEEMS LIKE THIS GUY MIGHT
BE A LITTLE TOUCHY, SO I SUSPECT THAT YOUR CRITICISM HE MIGHT
INTERPRET AS AN INSULT.
THAT IS SO SAD THAT YOU HAVE A COUNTRY
THAT USED TO BE A WONDERFUL SECULAR DEMOCRACY NOW
IMPRISONING ANYONE WHO INSULTS THEIR DEAR LEADER.