Ankara: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Saturday dismissed Berlin’s angry reaction to the arrest of German citizens in Turkey, local media reported, a row which is worsening the nations’ already fraying ties.
“When we arrest (a coup plotter) Germany starts to get upset. But what are we supposed to do?” Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by the Anadolu news agency.
“This is also a Turkish citizen but it (Germany) asks why are you arresting my citizen?”
Turkey has made a wave of arrests since a failed coup in July 2016.
Turkey has arrested more than 50,000 people including journalists under the state of emergency imposed in a crackdown after the failed July 2016 coup.
Berlin said Friday that two more German nationals had been held in Turkey “for political reasons”, as Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Ankara that Germany could re-examine its policies following the latest Turkish action.
The latest arrests brings to 12 the total number of Germans in Turkish custody that Berlin considers political prisoners.
There is “no legal basis” for detention in most of these cases, Merkel said, according to remarks carried by Germany’s DPA news agency.
According to the Dogan news agency, the two German nationals most recently arrested are of Turkish origin and were detained at Antalya airport in southeastern Turkey over suspected links with the failed coup.
