Turkey has condemned a German court decision banning president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from addressing his supporters by video link at a rally of tens of thousands of Cologne.

Tensions have been running high among Germany’s three million-strong Turkish population in the wake of last month’s failed coup and authorities deployed 2,700 police officers on the streets of the Rhineland city on Sunday to keep the peace.

Amid fears that the crowds could be riled by live screenings of speeches from Turkey by politicians including Erdoğan, Germany’s constitutional court banned an application for such broadcasts.

A statement from the Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalın said the ban was “unacceptable”.

“The practical and legal effort to prevent an event that advocates democracy, freedom and the rule of law and stands against the 15 July coup attempt is a violation of the freedom of expression and the right to free assembly,” the statement said.

“We are curious about the real reason why the German authorities and the constitutional court banned President Erdoğan’s message and hope that the German authorities will provide a satisfactory explanation.”

Police put the final turnout at about 40,000 as demonstrators chanting “Turkey” and waving national flags turned the rally site into a sea of red.

“We are here because our compatriots in Germany are standing up for democracy and against the attempted military coup in Turkey,” said Turkey’s sports minister, Akif Çağatay Kılıç, who was at the rally.

Akif Çağatay Kılıçs speaks at the rally. Photograph: Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters

Since the attempted military power grab on 15 July, Erdoğan’s government has launched a crackdown on those allegedly linked to the putsch that has seen the detention of almost 19,000 people, provoking international concern.



Turkish authorities said on Sunday night that an operation outside the Aegean resort town of Marmaris has resulted in the capture of nine people suspected of being part of a group that raided a hotel at which Erdoğan had been staying during the attempted coup.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said three suspects were still on the run .

Erdoğan had been on vacation in Marmaris when the coup attempt occurred. A group of soldiers that raided his hotel is believed to have missed the president by an hour or less.

Earlier on Sunday, state media reported that 1,400 military personnel had been dismissed over suspected links to the exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen – blamed by the Turkish government for the attempted coup. Gülen denies having orchestrated the putsch. The dismissals come a day after Erdoğan moved to bring the military firmly under his control by announcing that the chief of staff would report to him.



More than 1,700 military personnel were last week dishonourably discharged for their role in the coup attempt, which saw a faction of the armed forces commandeer tanks, helicopters and warplanes in an attempt to topple the government. Erdoğan has said 237 people were killed and more than 2,100 wounded.

The number of public sector workers removed from their posts since the coup attempt is now at more than 66,000, including about 43,000 people in education, the Anadolu state-run news agency reported on Friday. The interior minister, Efkan Âlâ, said more than 18,000 people had been detained over the failed coup and that 50,000 passports had been cancelled.

Erdoğan supporters in Cologne on Sunday. Photograph: Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters

With mass purges of suspected Gülen supporters well under way in all state institutions, the media and some private companies, the Turkish football federation said on Sunday all its affiliated boards had resigned for the sake of “security checks”. It said it was cooperating fully with the authorities.

The political strife in Turkey has found expression in Germany, which is home to the world’s biggest Turkish diaspora. The North Rhine-Westphalia state, where Cologne is located, is home to about one-third of Germany’s Turkish community.



The Cologne rally was staged by groups including the pro-Erdoğan Union of European-Turkish Democrats.



Meanwhile, skirmishes broke out at several smaller counter-demonstrations, with police moving in to separate about 80 rightwing nationalist Turks and 100 Kurds. About 250 far-right extremists, including some known hooligans, had also come together before being dispersed by police.

In an attempt to prevent violence between the camps, 2,700 officers – including several Turkish speakers – were on duty backed up by eight water cannon.

Cologne’s police chief, Jürgen Mathies, s: “One thing I want to make clear is that we will intervene against any kind of violence quickly, decisively and forcefully.”

Erdoğan enjoys a lot of support among the diaspora in Germany and about 1.5 million Turkish nationals living there can vote in Turkish elections. Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party (AKP) received 60% of the vote from Germany in last November’s election, a bigger share than in Turkey.