Germany’s agriculture minister, a politician of Turkish origin, has said that Berlin should start treating Turkey like Russia after the new victory of President Recep Erdogan and his AKP party in the last presidential and parliamentary elections, the Quantity news site reported.

“We saw in our agreements with Putin what happens when you put yourself in a corner. The turn we finally have, thank God, in our relationship with Putin is now also necessary with Turkish ultra-nationalism,” said Minister Cem Ozdemir.

He noted that Erdogan’s re-election as Turkish president this Sunday has concrete consequences for German society, as many imams working in Germany were sent here by the Turkish religious authorities.

Özdemir also said that Germans should not ignore the situation because if the next generation of imams coming to Germany are even more nationalist and fundamentalist, “they will influence the children of Germany.”

The German minister is disappointed that German Turks are celebrating Erdogan’s victory

Immediately after the results of the second round of elections were announced, he sharply criticized the world’s largest Turkish diaspora in Germany for helping Erdogan win a new mandate. Erdogan won about 52% of the vote among eligible Turks, but in Germany he received two-thirds of the vote.

The incumbent president of Turkey won second place in Germany and in the first round of the presidential election.

Özdemir condemned the celebratory demonstrations by ethnic Turks in Germany after the results were announced, saying they should not be held accountable for their vote while “many people in Turkey will have to suffer from poverty and lack of freedom”.

Cem Ozdemir, who was born in Germany after his parents came to the country as “guest workers”, is part of Germany’s Green Party, as is Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock.

The Turkish community in Germany condemns Ozdemir’s accusations

Gokay Sofuoglu, president of the Turkish community in Germany, dismissed his comments, accusing him of “striking Turkish voters”.

“The more attacks voters face, the more determined they will go to the polls,” he added, also accusing voters of “stigmatizing” Erdogan’s Islamist party in Germany.

The alliance led by Erdoğan’s party won more than 49% of the vote in parliamentary elections held on May 15 at the same time as the first round of presidential elections.

“I feel that many people here in Germany do not identify with this country,” Sofuoglu said of the country’s ethnic Turks, while urging German politicians to “come with a better offer” for them.