ISTANBUL (Dispatches) -- Turkey on Saturday lashed out at "arrogant" German reaction to comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging ethnic Turks in Germany to vote against both parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition.
The latest spat between Ankara and Berlin risks propelling a months-long crisis in ties between the two NATO allies to a new level ahead of Germany's Sept. 24 general election.
Erdogan said ethnic Turks in the country should not cast their ballots for Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel or the Greens, labeling all three parties "enemies of Turkey."
Gabriel condemned Erdogan's comments as an "unprecedented act of interference" while Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Twitter: "We expect foreign governments to not interfere in our internal affairs."
The SPD's chancellor candidate Martin Schulz went even further, saying Erdogan had "lost all sense of proportion."
But Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag, who is also the official government spokesman, strongly defended Erdogan's comments saying they were only aimed at Turkish-origin voters in Germany.
"This was expressed very openly and clearly. But then look at these very disrespectful and very arrogant reactions that go beyond the bounds of decency," he said in televised comments.
"I want to condemn these reactions and the disrespectful language used," he added.
Bozdag accused Germany of meddling in Turkey's April 16 referendum on expanding Erdogan's powers saying the German "government's attitude was very clear" in backing the 'No' camp.
He also reaffirmed past Turkish accusations against Germany that it was giving refuge both to wanted Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants and suspected plotters in the July 15, 2016, failed coup bid.
"Germany supports the PKK," said Bozdag. "The PKK is a terror group but Germany quite clearly gives it protection."
Analysts say that some 1.2 million people of Turkish origin will have the right to vote in the September polls as German citizens.
Turkey further slammed Germany for refusing to confirm whether the country is harboring the man suspected of organizing the 15 July coup attempt last year.
Adil Oksuz, a civilian alleged supporter of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, has been missing since July 2016 after he was released from court following his arrest while trying to escape the Akinci air base on the night of the coup.
Oksuz is accused by Turkey of being the main conduit between Gulen and the military officers who carrying out the attempted putsch, which led to more than 200 deaths.
Although his whereabouts have been unconfirmed, Turkish media has repeatedly accused Germany of harboring him.
Bozdag said that Germany had refused to answer a diplomatic note issued during the week inquiring whether Oksuz was in the country.
"Turkey had demands but unfortunately a positive response could not be given to Turkey's expectations," said Bozdag, speaking to reporters in Yozgat.
"In fact, they did not. On the issue of Adil Oksuz, a positive response has not been given so far."
Oksuz has been described as Gulen’s "air force imam" due to his alleged role as the contact between Gulenists in the air force and supporters in other areas.
He regularly travelled to the U.S. to meet with Gulen, including a visit just two days before the 15 July coup attempt. The visit was since confirmed by Gulen himself, but he denied that this indicated his own involvement in the coup, describing it as "jumping to conclusions".
Others, including Gulen, have claimed that Oksuz had connections to Turkish intelligence, implying that the coup attempt was either staged or at least known about to the authorities prior to it happening.
Tensions have risen exponentially between Turkey and Germany since the coup attempt.
Turkey has long accused Germany of being a safe haven for "terrorist" groups including the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETO), the country's pejorative name for the Gulenists, the PKK and the Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C).
There are an estimated three million people of Turkish origin in Germany. Many of them came, or are the descendants of those who came, to West Germany as gastarbeiter (guest workers) from the 1960s, to make up for a postwar labor shortage.
In the past, Turkish-origin Germans have inclined to the left, with most voting for the SPD.
But Erdogan is also popular with Turks living in Germany, and 59% of the votes cast by Turkish citizens resident in Germany went to his ruling party in November 2015 parliamentary polls.