German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday rejected Turkey’s message to citizens that they should take care when travelling to Germany over what it said was an increase in anti-Turkish sentiment ahead of Germany’s election on September 24.
Tensions between Berlin and Ankara have been bubbling for months and Turkey’s word of caution on Saturday came after Germany’s foreign ministry on Tuesday warned citizens travelling to Turkey that they risk arbitrary detention even in tourist areas.
“I want to say very clearly that all Turkish citizens can travel here,” Merkel said during an election campaign event in the northwestern German town of Delbrueck.
“No journalists get arrested here and no journalists get put in custody. Freedom of opinion and the rule of law prevail here and we’re proud of that.
“We think there’s no justification at all for him being in prison and the same applies to at least 11 other Germans.”
Merkel, who infuriated the Turkish government last weekend by saying she would seek an end to the country’s membership talks with the European Union, is expected to win a fourth term in the upcoming election.
Polls give her conservatives a double-digit lead over their rival Social Democrats (SPD).
