Obama's BFF Erdogan irks Austria with anti-assimilation speech.

Obama's BFF Erdogan irks Austria with anti-assimilation speech.HT: TundraTabloids.

(Reuters) – Austria accused Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of electioneering and stirring up trouble on Thursday when he urged thousands of cheering supporters in Vienna to respect their adopted country but reject ‘assimilation’.

Austrian leaders had appealed to Erdogan not to undermine their efforts to integrate the Turkish community of more than a quarter of a million in his address at a 10th anniversary rally of the Union of European Turkish Democrats.

Erdogan received a rock star’s welcome in a converted Vienna ice rink, with thousands waving Turkish flags and singing his name. Some wore T-shirts with his picture and the slogan “The Sultan of the World”.

Critics staged two counter-demonstrations in Vienna.

“No to assimilation, yes to integration,” Erdogan told the throng. “You will learn to speak fluent German and will carry your relations with the Austrian community to an excellent level but you will not be assimilated.”

More here.

In Vienna speech on Thursday, Erdoğan recalls Ottoman military leader Kara Mustafa Pasha who laid an unsuccessful siege on Vienna in 1683

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) June 20, 2014