German Chancellor Angela Merkel rebuffed Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement, that Germans approaches “are no different than the Nazi practices of the past”, calling it “absurd”. "One cannot seriously comment on such misplaced statements," Merkel said at an event in Berlin.  

According to her, such statements cannot be justified even taken the situation that Turkey prepares a referendum for a presidential system of government. “It’s especially grave -- and I personally find it just sad -- that Nazi comparisons really only lead to one thing: trivializing the incomparable crimes against humanity carried out under National Socialism,” said Merkel.