Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called on Turks living in Germany to vote next month against Ankara’s “enemies,” including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and pro-democracy political parties.

The remarks, which Erdogan made at a prayer service in Istanbul, are an escalation of a brewing standoff between the two NATO nations.

“I am calling on all my countrymen in Germany: the Christian Democrats, [Social Democratic Party], the Green Party are all enemies of Turkey. Support those political parties who are not enemies of Turkey,” Erdogan said on Friday, Reuters reports.

The German government has accused the increasingly authoritarian Erdogan of using a failed coup attempt last July to crackdown on dissenters. Erdogan’s regime has arrested tens of thousands of critics and purged tens of thousands more from their jobs.

Erdogan also used the coup to call for a referendum to expand executive authority in Turkey. The vote, held in April, narrowly passed.

Erdogan accused the German government of using “Nazi-style tactics” ahead of that referendum because German government officials would not let Turkish politicians campaign for votes in Germany.

“I call on them not to vote for those parties who have been engaged in such aggressive, disrespectful attitudes against Turkey, and I invite them to teach a lesson to those political parties at the ballot box,” Erdogan said Friday.

Erdogan’s screed is unlikely to alter the outcome of the Sept. 24 election. Merkel, who is seeking her fourth term, is widely expected to coast to victory.

Germany’s foreign minister responded to what he called Erdogan’s “evil game.”

“That is an unprecedented act of interference in the sovereignty of our country,” said German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel.

“Erdogan’s interference in Germany’s electoral campaign shows that he wants to incite people in Germany against each other,” he continued, adding: “Let’s show those who want to play us against each other that we will not participate in this evil game.”

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