Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the staggering comment about Nazi Germany as attempts to build-up his own political position and put more powers into his hands.

At a press conference in Turkey which he held after cutting a state visit to Saudi Arabia short following the death of eminent pro-government political journalist Hasan Karakaya, Mr Erdogan was asked if he thought a presidential system would be possible while keeping the state’s unitary structure.

He said: “Yes. There is nothing to say that you can't have a presidential system in a unitary state.

"There are already some examples in the world today, and also some from the past.

“You see it when you look at Hitler's Germany.”

“Later you see the example again in various other countries.”

The President’s AKP party won a solid victory in November in the Turkish elections, increasing his grip on power.

Despite being part of a party, he was praised for personally leading AKP to success and Turkish state broadcasters focused on him rather than any of his opponents.

He has said before Turkey already has a presidential system, although it does not under law, and said any constitutional reforms would simply “finalise” the change.

A senior Turkish official defended Mr Erdogan, saying he had meant to highlight Nazi Germany as an example of how not to implement a presidential system.

He said: “There are good and poor examples of presidential systems and the important thing is to put checks and balances in place.”

“Nazi Germany, lacking proper institutional arrangements, was obviously one of the most disgraceful examples in history.

“That’s his point,” Express reported.

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