DPA international (Englischer Dienst), Germany Friday 6:37 PM GMT German reporter Deniz Yucel walks free after a year in Turkish jail by Bill Heaney, Bernd Roeder and Niels C Sorrells in Berlin, Michael Fischer in Munich, and Shabtai Gold, Linda Say and Can Merey in Istanbul Berlin (dpa) - The journalist whose arrest in Turkey last February became a major sticking point in relations between Berlin and Ankara walked free on Friday after a year of incarceration. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who earlier called Deniz Yucel's release "a good day for us all," said the journalist had departed for the airport. "I want to especially thank the Turkish government for its support in speeding up the legal process," Gabriel said, who revealed that he had twice met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the matter, a detail he had never publicized before. A photograph of Yucel hugging his wife outside prison was tweeted by his lawyer Veysel Ok and by his employer, German newspaper Die Welt. The image shows the pair embracing as Deniz holds a bunch of parsley - a "flower of our love," Deniz explained in an article for Die Welt in December. The high walls of the prison and barbed-wire-topped fencing can be seen in the background. His wife, Dilek Mayaturk-Yucel, had earlier tweeted: "Finally!!! Finally!!! Finally!!! Deniz is free!" "Of course I am delighted for him, for his wife and family," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, thanking all those who had worked for his release. "It shows perhaps that dialogue is not always useless. You never know exactly how things are going to turn out." Yucel, 44, was arrested in Istanbul in February 2017 and remanded in custody on suspicion of terrorism-related offences, but he had yet to be officially charged of any crime by state prosecutors. A Turkish court ordered Yucel's release after accepting an indictment from prosecutors which asked for up to 18 years in prison for the journalist on charges of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization" and "inciting people to hatred and hostility." The three-page indictment alleged Yucel used the term "Armenian genocide," and had contact with members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and followers of cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the government accuses of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016. Yucel allegedly has one book by Gulen, according to the charges, which also mentioned a joke the journalist once related about Turks and Kurds. Erdogan expressed his views on Yucel on a number of occasions, saying he was "clearly an agent terrorist" and a "German agent." The president said there was footage and evidence to prove his claims. Die Welt editor-in-chief Ulf Poschardt on Friday lauded the media's cooperation in Yucel's case, thanking those who didn't publish information that could have put him in danger while in detention. However, Poschardt added, the fight is far from over, promising to continue trying to free the 150 journalists still in Turkish jail. The former editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet, Can Dundar, who lives in exile in Europe, was less optimistic, warning that Yucel's release would have negative consequences on press freedom in Turkey. "Erdogan now knows that it's possible to negotiate over journalists," he said. "Erdogan received something in return, we just don't know what yet. Why shouldn't he imprison ever more journalists?" he said. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim had hinted ahead of a meeting with Merkel in Berlin on Thursday that there would be movement in the Yucel case. "I hope that he will be released soon. I am of the opinion that there will be a development soon," Yildirim said in an interview with German state-run broadcaster ARD. He insisted Turkey's judiciary is independent. After Yucel was released, Yildirim expressed hope that the two countries would "jointly" take steps to improve their relationship. "It seems that some problems in Germany-Turkey relations in the past period have been resolved today," Yildirim was quoted by the Turkish Anadolu news agency as saying in Munich, where he was attending the annual global security conference. "God willing, it will get better." Since the end of 2017, Turkey has been seeking to improve its battered relationship with Europe, and especially Germany, a key trading partner and home to millions of people of Turkish descent. Some members of the Turkish community in Germany expressed joy. "We are hugely delighted that he has been set free," community leader Gokay Sofuoglu told dpa, describing him as "a positively zany, freedom-loving journalist."