A German court has rejected a request by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for a preliminary injunction preventing the head of German publisher Axel Springer repeating a derogatory term.

Erdoğan’s lawyer, Ralf Höcker, told Reuters on Tuesday that Erdoğan had sought the injunction after chief executive Mathias Döpfner’s public support for a controversial poem read out by comedian Jan Böhmermann on German television in March.

But the court said in a statement it had rejected it on the basis of “the defendant’s right to free expression of opinion”.

Erdoğan is known for his sensitivity to criticism and Turkish prosecutors have opened more than 1,800 cases against people for insulting him since he became president in 2014. That sensitivity has also made itself felt on the international stage, raising tensions with Germany at a time when the two countries are grappling with a huge influx of Syrian refugees.

Erdoğan’s office was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters. The Turkish leader has repeatedly said his opponents are free to criticise him but that those who stray into insult will face legal action.

German chancellor Angela Merkel has drawn heavy criticism for allowing German prosecutors to pursue a case against Böhmermann at Erdoğan’s behest.

Under Germany’s criminal code, insults against foreign leaders are not allowed but the government can decide whether to authorise prosecutors to go ahead.

In the poem, Böhmermann suggested Erdoğan hits girls, watches child pornography and engages in bestiality.

Döpfner expressed solidarity with Böhmermann in an open letter published in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag in April, saying he had laughed out loud over the poem and “wholeheartedly” supported what the comedian had said.

If the court in Cologne had agreed to grant the injunction, Döpfner would have been banned from repeating a sexually crude term to describe Erdoğan that was first used by Böhmermann and subsequently quoted by the Axel Springer chief.

The court said its decision did not address the legality of the Böhmermann poem, which is still under investigation.

A spokeswoman for Springer said Döpfner had simply “wanted to defend the freedom of art and satire in his open letter”.

Höcker had told Reuters earlier that he expected the Cologne district court to reject the injunction, and would recommend Erdoğan appeal to a higher court. It was not immediately clear when a follow-on lawsuit could be filed.

Höcker’s law firm said on Monday it had won a preliminary injunction against German director and producer Uwe Boll, who in a video posted online, defended Böhmermann’s poem and said Erdoğan should be shot.

“Mr Erdoğan is a human being and human dignity is inviolable,” Höcker said in that statement, adding that this was placed above the freedom of press, art and opinion in the German constitution.

