BERLIN: The case of a German-Turkish journalist who has been detained in Turkey for a year is likely to overshadow a meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Thursday.
In an interview on German television aired on Wednesday, Yildirm stressed that the decision on whether to release Die Welt correspondent Deniz Yucel would be made by Turkish judges and not his government.
“I hope that he will be released soon. I am of the opinion that there will be a development soon,” Yildirim said in a translation provided by state-run broadcaster ARD.
Yucel was arrested exactly one year ago in Istanbul and remanded in custody on suspicion of terrorism-related offences, but he has yet to be officially charged of any crime by state prosecutors.
Yildirim said in Turkey ahead of his trip that he and Merkel would discuss Turkey-EU relations, bilateral trade, and the 3.5 million Turkish nationals living in Germany and anti-Islam and ultra-nationalist movements in Europe.
Relations between the two sides have become strained in recent years over what Berlin sees as the increasingly autocratic rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was granted sweeping new powers in a controversial referendum last year.
“We think that this period is left behind,” Yildirim said on Wednesday.
He also said Germany’s “firm stance” against the activities of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is “encouraging.”
