Germany reconsiders its policy towards Turkey amid worsened ties

ITAR-TASS, Russia
July 20, 2017 Thursday 1:50 PM GMT


Germany reconsiders its policy towards Turkey amid worsened ties

BERLIN July 20

HIGHLIGHT: Germany will review its policy towards Turkey and may cut
investments to Ankara as bilateral relations have deteriorated, German
Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Thursday.



BERLIN, July 20. /TASS/. Germany will review its policy towards Turkey
and may cut investments to Ankara as bilateral relations have
deteriorated, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Thursday.

Turkish-German relations have been severely strained after Turkey
detained six human rights activists, including a German citizen Peter
Steudtner, earlier this week accusing them of assisting the activity
of terrorist groups.

"We need to review our policy towards Turkey," Gabriel said. "The
situation in Turkey is not transparent and we should call a spade a
spade," he said. "We expect that Ankara will return to European
values."

"We cannot advise investing in a country that lacks security and where
enterprises are equaled to terrorists," the minister said. "I don’t
see how the German government can guarantee safety of German
investments in Turkey when they may face measures taken due to
political motives."

Gabriel said it is impossible to continue talks between the European
Union and Turkey on setting up a customs union under the current
circumstances. "I cannot imagine talks on expanding the EU customs
union when Turkey detains EU citizens without any grounds," he said.

"We should discuss the future of framework investment contracts, loans
and providing German assistance," he said. In the coming days, Gabriel
plans to discuss relations with Turkey with his EU colleagues.

German authorities have also decided to toughen recommendations for
their citizens on trips to Turkey. "The situation around (human rights
activist Peter) Steudtner shows that German citizens in Turkey cannot
be protected from arbitrary detention," he stressed. "Any German
citizen may fall victim" to Turkey’s arbitrariness, he noted.

Gabriel called the detention of six human rights activists in Turkey
"well-planned steps," describing accusations against them as
"unfounded and far-fetched." He called on Turkey’s authorities to
resume dialogue "based on European values."

He said the detained German citizen attended a human rights seminar
and was not an expert on Turkey. Steudtner doesn’t have any
acquaintances among local politicians and he has never made any
publications in local media.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sided with the foreign minister.
"Chancellor Merkel considers that the measures announced by the
foreign minister on Turkey in the light of recent events are necessary
and inevitable," German Government Spokesman Steffen Seibert wrote on
Twitter.

Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the latest
statements of German politicians are linked to the current political
situation in the country, which is gearing up for parliamentary
elections in September. "We will not accept these statements and
expect that soon Germany will abandon them."

The spokesman stressed that Turkey wants to maintain relations with
Germany "which are at a good level now." He assured that "there is no
danger for German citizens traveling to Turkey."

Relations between Turkey and Germany started worsening last year when
the German parliament unanimously passed a resolution calling the
killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire "genocide." The Turkish
leadership demanded that Berlin should publicly distance itself from
the resolution. Besides, Ankara was angered by a satire show on
Germany’s TV insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

This spring, Turkish politicians planned to make a tour of European
countries and address their countrymen ahead of the referendum on a
constitutional reform boosting Erdogan’s powers. The German government
said their goal was to carry out propaganda in Germany and banned them
from holding these events, sparking criticism in Ankara, which accused
Berlin of using "Nazi methods" against Turks.

Germany is home to around 1.5 million natives of Turkey, who still
hold a Turkish passport. At the referendum, nearly two thirds of them
voted in support of Erdogan’s reforms, alarming local observers and
politicians.

Amid tensions between Ankara and Berlin, analysts voice concerns over
the fate of a deal on refugees reached between the EU and Turkey. At
the height of the migration crisis, hundreds of thousands of them
entered the EU through Turkey’s territory and moved to Germany, what
led to a drop in Merkel’s rating and strengening the positions of the
right-wing Alternative for Germany party.