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German, Turkish ministers to discuss ways to normalize relations

07 March 2017 [14:11] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Kamila Aliyeva

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his German counterpart Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel will meet in Berlin on Wednesday to discuss moves for normalization of relations between the two countries, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said, RIA Novosti reported.

Relations between Berlin and Ankara further escalated after the arrest of a German journalist of Turkish origin Deniz Yucel in Istanbul. He is suspected by the Turkish authorities of "participation in a terrorist organization, the misuse of data, and the propagation of terrorism."

German chancellor Angela Merkel demanded from Ankara to release Yucel and to observe freedom of media.

Then the authorities of the German city of Gaggenau (Baden-Württemberg) canceled the speech of the Turkish Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag, due to which the minister left the country and refused to meet his German counterpart Heiko Maas.

On March 5, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan compared the current policy of Berlin to the "actions of the Nazis in the past", which caused serious discontent in the FRG.

Gabriel and Cavusoglu have already discussed Erdogan's statements on the phone the previous night, according to Shafer.

“During this telephone conversation, statements from Ankara and Istanbul in relation to Berlin were discussed, and both ministers also talked about future steps in order not to tear the negotiating channels and ways to move to a more peaceful phase,” the spokesman of the German Foreign Ministry said adding that this will be the main goal of Wednesday talks.

In turn, the official representative of the FRG Cabinet Steffen Seibert said that on the past weekend Merkel talked to Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. The content of the talks was not disclosed, although he indicated the direction of the conversation.

“The talks were confidential, but, logically, the issue was German-Turkish relations," the representative of the Cabinet added. Both sides agreed that further heating in relations should be avoided and that the planned meeting of the foreign ministers scheduled for this Wednesday should be used for this.” 

Germany and other European countries have grown increasingly concerned about mass arrests and dismissals in the army, judiciary and civil service across Turkey after a failed coup attempt in July.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/159242.html

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