Böhmermann case likely to backfire on Erdo?an

The offensive poem by German comedian Jan Böhmermann about President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is puerile and asinine. There is a thin line between biting even scathing political humor and downright insults. 

Turkey is no stranger to political humor with a sharp edge. The late Levent K?rca - who is a household name in this country - was famous for his stinging parodies of politicians. They can still be watched on YouTube.

Some of his funniest gags - and he had many about Erdo?an going back to when Erdo?an was mayor of Istanbul - hit below the belt. 

K?rca's parodies often contained sexual innuendoes too, which Turks also enjoy. K?rca was not unique by any means. This tradition of political lampooning goes back to Ottoman times and includes such famous names as ?air E?ref (The Poet E?ref), the bane of Sultan Abdulhamid and corrupt Ottoman officials.

Accusing a politician of being a zoophile or sodomite, however, without any subtle political punch line, and with no aim in mind other than causing shock, seems to cross a line and can hardly count as political humor of a higher standard. One has to also question the intellectual capacity of anyone who finds Böhmermann's poem funny.

I don't know if any European leader would have disregarded Böhmermann's poem if he or she was its target. At any rate, whether they personally would want to go down that path or not, it is clear they would have the right to initiate a slander case. 

The most likely scenario would be that they would shrug it off because they know sensible people are capable of discerning between good and bad taste. It's not in Erdo?an's character to do so, of course. Not when he has hundreds and thousands of Turkish followers in Germany alone, let alone the rest...