Germany said Monday it was reviewing a formal request from Ankara to prosecute a TV satirist who crudely insulted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on air, amid a bitter row over free speech.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters that Berlin had received a "note verbale", a formal diplomatic protest, from Turkey asking for "criminal proceedings" against celebrity comedian Jan Boehmermann.

Seibert said a decision by officials at the chancellery, foreign ministry and justice ministry could be expected in the coming days on whether a probe under section 103 of the criminal code -- insulting organs or representatives of foreign states -- could go forward.

The charge can carry a sentence of up to three years in prison.

Seibert nevertheless stressed Berlin's constitutional commitment to freedom of expression.

"This applies, and this is very important to me, regardless of whether the chancellor personally finds something artistically successful or repellent, tasteful or tasteless," he said.

German prosecutors last week opened a preliminary probe against Boehmermann over his so-called "Defamatory Poem", recited with a broad grin on public television, accusing Erdogan of having sex with goats and sheep.

During the broadcast on March 31, Boehmermann gleefully admitted the piece flouted Germany's legal limits to free speech and was intended as a provocation.

Seibert quoted Merkel last week as calling the poem "deliberately insulting" during a telephone call with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davotoglu.

The case comes at an extremely awkward time as Europe, and Germany in particular, are relying on Turkey to implement a pact to curb the influx of migrants setting sail for the EU from Turkey's shores.

German critics have savaged the government's muted response to Turkey's diplomatic protest, accusing Merkel of kowtowing to the Turkish leader.

In the German-language rhyme Boehmermann, seated before the Turkish flag and a portrait of Erdogan, also charges that the Turkish leader loves to "repress minorities, kick Kurds and beat Christians while watching child porn".

The comedian was reacting to Ankara's decision to summon Germany's ambassador in protest over a previous satirical song broadcast on German TV which lampooned Erdogan in far tamer language.

The two-minute clip "Erdowie, Erdowo, Erdogan", set to the tune of a 1980s pop song, takes aim at the Turkish president over his alleged spending excesses and his government's crackdown on civil liberties.
Source: AFP