BERLIN, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Demonstrators took to streets in several German cities on Saturday to protest a planned visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Germany, the German Press Agency (DPA) reported.
Erdogan is expected to visit Germany next week, where he would meet German leaders to break the ice in bilateral relations which have soured since the coup attempt in Turkey in 2016.
The planned visit, which reportedly includes a military honor guard and state banquet, would be Erdogan's first official visit to Germany after he became president in 2014 and gained more executive powers under new presidential system following the critical elections in June.
In the Germany capital Berlin, a few hundred people took part in the protest, according to police estimates, DPA said.
In several western German cities, protests of between 80 and 200 people marched through the streets. About 80 people in Hanover joined a larger demonstration staged by another group against right-wing extremism that had 400 people.
Several large protests are planned next Friday and Saturday in Berlin and the western city of Cologne against Erdogan's visit, according to DPA.
The Turkish-German relations took a hard hit following the failed military coup attempt in July 2016. Berlin sharply criticized Ankara's human rights record in the wake of a nationwide crackdown in Turkey against thousands of suspected coup plotters, during which dozens of German citizens were arrested.
Tensions were eased somewhat subsequently after the release of German nationals, including a journalist, Deniz Yucel. Yet Turkey still accuses Germany of harboring followers of the Gulen movement, which Ankara blames for plotting the coup attempt.
As relations between Turkey and the United States are in a tailspin, Erdogan's upcoming visit to Germany could take on even greater significance.
