“Everyone can be affected. The most absurd things are possible,” said Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, warning travelers thinking of visiting Turkey.
His ministry issued a travel guidance, telling travelers “Foreign ministry sites are not always informed in a timely manner about the detention of German citizens, and access for consular services is not always ensured.”
Gabriel returned to Berlin early from holiday after Turkey arrested six human rights activists, including German Peter Steudtner and the head of Amnesty International in Turkey, on terror-related allegations.
Gabriel also said that economic ties could be affected. “I can’t see how we as the German government can continue to guarantee corporate investments in Turkey if there is the threat of arbitrary expropriation for political reasons.”
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry hit back, accusing Gabriel of “double standards.”
Turkey has frequently complained that the PKK and the Gulen movement, named terrorist organizations in Turkey, are given free rein to operate in Germany. The PKK is also named a terrorist organization by the EU.
German newspaper Die Zeit reported Ankara gave Berlin a list of 68 German companies it accused of having ties to the Gulen movement, blamed by Ankara of masterminding last year’s attempted coup. Turkey denied the report.
“They should know that Turkey will never bow to blackmail and threats,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Thursday.
He described Gabriel’s comments as “ill-tempered” and said his German counterpart’s comments do not comply with norms of international relations.
Relations between Germany and Turkey are increasingly strained. Last week, Turkey reportedly blocked German lawmakers from visiting a NATO airbase in Konya. Similar incidents in the past prompted Germany to move their military aircraft and roughly 250 troops involved in the war against ISIS from Turkey’s Incirlik airbase to Jordan.
