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Thousands took to the streets after Friday night’s failed military coup – not only in Turkey, but also in Germany. In the western German city of Essen, 5,000 people held a spontaneous rally in support of the government, as 2,000 assembled in Berlin.

The protesters followed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call urging Turks to take to the streets, saying “this is not just a 12-hour operation.”

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As the Turkish government began a punishing campaign against suspected coup plotters, there were increasing signs that the tensions in Turkey were now also playing out in Germany. Thomas Oppermann, a leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, harshly criticized Erdogan on Sunday. “When thousands of judges and prosecutors are removed who had obviously nothing to do with the coup, then that is an attack on democracy,” Oppermann said.

But many of Germany’s roughly 3 million Turkish immigrants were likely to be enraged by Oppermann’s statement. On social media, some users who appeared to be Turkish immigrants living in Germany voiced discontent. “He is a third-rate person who is good for nothing,” one user named Hakan Gunduz wrote in response to Oppermann’s comments. Another commentator argued that the comments were a sign that Germany’s coalition government “used every chance to get rid of fundamental rights.”