Ankara - SANA
Under the motto /Taksim is everywhere and Resistance is everywhere.. Let\'s end Erdogan\'s authoritarianism/ more than 80,000 people, from various areas in Germany rallied against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan\'s government in the German city of Cologne, AFP said. Protesters also came from , France, Switzerland and Austria. German Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, said, following his meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, that \"calming the situation with Turkey still needs additional efforts.\" The tensions between Ankara and Berlin began when German Chancellor, Angela Merkel , criticized Turkey\'s violent crackdown on the demonstrators as \"much too harsh\". Germany and Turkey exchanged criticism on the sidelines of the protests against Erdogan\'s government, while the two countries summoned each other\'s ambassadors. Turkish European Union Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis, warned Merkel against exploiting the situation in Turkey for internal political goals connected with the German elections next September, saying \"If Merkel is looking for material for her election campaign, it should not be Turkey.\" Meanwhile, thousands of Turkish demonstrators gathered in Taksim Square in Istanbul to mark a week since police evicted thousands of people from the adjacent Gezi Park. \"This is but a start, the battle continues, It is by resisting that we will prevail \", the protesters chanted, throwing red carnations in honor of those killed, injured and detained during the demonstrations that recently took place in Turkey. The Turkish police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse the demonstrators who demand Erdogan to step down . 4 people at least were killed during the demonstrations hit Turkey in protest against Erdogan\'s government authoritarianism, more than 7800 others injured due to the Turkish police offensive against the peaceful protestors to evacuate Gezi Park last Saturday, Turkish medical union said