AKIPRESS.COM - Tens of thousands of people in Germany have turned out in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a rally that raised diplomatic tensions.

Mr Erdogan had planned to address the rally in the city of Cologne, held to denounce an attempted coup two weeks ago, BBC reports.

But on Saturday, Germany's Constitutional Court banned the speech from being broadcast.

German media said at least 35,000 people turned out.

An estimated three million people of Turkish origin live in Germany, the majority of whom voted for Mr Erdogan's AKP party in the last Turkish election, according to the Turkish Communities in Germany organisation.

"We are here because our compatriots in Germany advocate democracy and are against the attempted military coup," Turkey's German-born Sport and Youth Minister Akif Cagatay Kilic said in Cologne.