Summary Erdogan's long-scheduled Germany visit has sparked controversy for days.
COLOGNE (AFP) - Some 40,000 protesters on Saturday rallied against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Germany where he was set to address conservative supporters in a speech later in the day.
Erdogan, who is expected to run for president in August, has polarised Turks at home and abroad over what critics call his authoritarian style, a crackdown on civil liberties and allegations of corruption under his rule.
Protesters waved banners against the premier and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) that read: "Erdogan persona non grata", "Resistance against AKP fascism" and "Corruption, sharia, sultanate -- Erdogan, you are not a democrat".
Those rallying in Cologne -- a major centre for the three million Turks or people with Turkish roots in Germany -- also denounced Erdogan over Turkey s recent mining disaster and his government s response to it.
Some wore hardhats with the word "Soma", the name of the western Turkish town where 301 coal miners died last week in the country s worst ever industrial disaster that sparked renewed anti-government protests.
Erdogan outraged many with his apparent indifference when he remarked that mining accidents are in "the nature of the business", and after photos showed his advisor Yusuf Erkel kicking a protester in Soma.
Amid the heightened passions, police in Germany on Saturday morning made several arrests after breaking up a scuffle between security staff guarding the venue of Erdogan s speech and his opponents.
- Turkish community divided -
Rally organisers from the Turkish Alevi community -- which follows a moderate form of Islam, and many of whose members have long opposed the conservative premier -- said that as many as 65,000 people had joined the rally.
"The arrival of Erdogan today divides Turks living here in Germany," said Ufuk Cakir, president of the Association of Alevis of North Rhine-Westphalia state, which was co-organising the event.
Cakir said "the recent events in Turkey, the corruption scandals, the killings of members of religious minorities, show ... yet again the need for our mobilisation".
Erdogan was due to address thousands of his followers later in the afternoon in a venue across the Rhine River from the rally, the 18,000-seat Lanxess Arena, where visitors had to pass through airport-style security.
Erdogan s long-scheduled Germany visit has sparked controversy for days, and Chancellor Angela Merkel this week urged the premier to show "a sense of responsibility and sensitivity" while there.
Top-selling daily Bild in an open letter referred to Erdogan s recent controversial policies, such as blocking Twitter and YouTube, and wrote: "Erdogan, you re not welcome here! ... We do not want politicians like you."
Cologne mayor Juergen Roters told Berlin s RBB public radio that "this election stop by the Turkish prime minister is a provocation", while the president of the Association of German Turks, Safter Cinar, told AFP he hoped Erdogan would strike a "conciliatory tone".
Erdogan s speech was officially to mark the 10th anniversary of the AKP s sister organisation in Germany the UETD, but was widely seen as a campaign rally.
In August presidential elections, in which Erdogan is expected to run, some 2.6 million overseas Turks will be allowed to vote for the first time -- including about 1.5 million in Germany.
