Erdogan calls on Turks in Germany not to vote for Merkel

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called on Turks in Germany to vote against German Chancellor Angela Merkel in next month's elections calling her an enemy of Turkey.

The comments comes as relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate following last year's failed coup in Turkey which has seen Turkish authorities detained more than 50,000 people and sacked or suspended 150,000, a move that drew criticism from Europe.

I am calling on all my countrymen in Germany: the Christian Democrats, SDP, the Green Party are all enemies of Turkey. Support those political parties who are not enemies of Turkey, he said in comments after Friday prayers in Istanbul.

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, he said.

Erdogan, also accused Germany of anti-Turkish sentiment, a country that is home to a large number of Turks in diaspora. 

Germans go to the polls on September 24 for elections where Merkel is running for a fourth term.