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The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the German ambassador to Ankara today to protest comments by a senior German politician who likened President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Recep Tayyip Erdogan - Turkish politician and prime minister.

Born on February 26, 1954 in Istanbul. He ended up a "little sewer rat", reports BTA.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the offensive statements made by Wolfgang Kubicki, the deputy speaker of the German federal parliament, about our president (Erdogan) in a speech during his election campaign in Lower Saxony," said Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanzu Bilgic. .

"(Kubitsky) is completely devoid of political morality and responsibility," Bilgic also pointed out, adding that such "indecent statements give an idea, above all, of Kubicki's political and moral level and reveal his vulgarity."

Turkey summoned the ambassador of Greece

Reached for comment by Reuters, Kubicki confirmed that he made the comment at a campaign rally, trying to draw attention to the growing number of illegal migrants moving from Turkey on the so-called

"Balkan route" to Germany.

"The sewer rat is a small, cute, but at the same time smart and cunning creature that also appears in children's fairy tales," Kubicki said, citing the popular cartoon Ratatouille as an example.

Kubicki, who is an MP for the business-oriented Free Democratic Party, part of Germany's ruling coalition, said Erdogan made a good deal for Turkey when he agreed to stem the flow of migrants entering the EU in 2015.

"But at the same time, we must note that the wave of refugees along the Balkan route (from Turkey) is increasing again, which is a challenge for German foreign and domestic policy," he pointed out.

Turkey is a candidate for EU membership, but talks have long stalled over disagreements over a range of issues, including Ankara's human rights record, migration and geopolitics.

Insulting the president is a crime in Turkey, where Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party have been in power for two decades.

Recep Erdogan

Germany