The German Interior Ministry has called on the Turkish government to clarify statements about possible arrests of German tourists.
„Turkey is well advised to correct the statements of its interior minister quickly in the matter“, said the parliamentary undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Günter Krings (CDU), newspapers of the spark media group (Thursday issues).
„Otherwise, of course, they would have a significant impact on European tourism in Turkey and would be further proof of how far away Turkey has been from Europe,“ Krings said.
According to Turkish media reports, Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said in an election campaign that anyone who participates in rallies of „terrorist organizations“ in Germany or other European countries and then goes on holiday to Turkey will be arrested on entry. He referred specifically to the Kurdistan Workers‘ Party (PKK), which is banned in Turkey and Germany as a terrorist organization.
Reproaches often via social networks
However, in Turkey, the Islamic Gülen movement and various other legal opposition groups in Germany and also in Austria are considered terrorist organizations. In recent years, German and German Turks have repeatedly been arrested while traveling to Turkey on charges of propaganda or support for such an organization. The allegations were often based on statements in social networks.
In addition, journalists from EU countries were arrested or expelled on suspicion of terrorism, including the „world“ correspondent Deniz Yücel, the French photographer Mathias Depardon and the Austrian journalist Max Zirngast.
