Turkish Government Summons German Ambassador Because Of A Silly Satirical Video... That's Now Getting More Attention

from the erdowhat? dept

We've written a few times about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who appears to have one of the thinnest skins of any national leader anywhere. He's been filing an average of over 100 lawsuits a month over "insults" to himself. And the latest is that the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the German Ambassador Martin Erdmann to explain why a German television station, NDR, broadcast a silly satirical video (gently) mocking Erdogan. You can see that video here (with English subtitles): It's kind of catchy, honestly. But would anyone really be talking about it if Erdogan and the Turkish government hadn't freaked out about it? This is The Streisand Effect in action. A total nothing of a mocking video that very few people would have cared about if Erdogan hadn't turned it into an international incident, which in turn makes the video news. As of this writing the video is quickly approaching a million views, and I imagine it'll end up with quite a bit more than that before long.

And imagine how much more effective it would have been if Erdogan and the Turkish government (a) ignored the video or (b) laughed it off? Instead, in freaking out about it, it only makes people think that it's worth taking seriously.

Filed Under: germany, insulting, martin erdmann, recep tayyip erdogan, satire, streisand effect, thin skin, turkey
Companies: ndr