Germany calls on Turkish ambassador over Die Welt journalist's arrest

Germany called on Turkey's ambassador to Berlin on Feb. 28 to protest the arrest of a correspondent for a German newspaper, further fueling tensions between the two NATO allies. 

Deniz Yücel, a German-Turkish dual national with Die Welt, faces up to 10.5 years in prison after being arrested on charges of propaganda in support of a terrorist organization and inciting public violence, his lawyer Veysel Ok told Reuters on Feb. 28.

The ministry initially said on Twitter that State Secretary Walter Lindner had "summoned" the ambassador of Turkey, before clarifying that the envoy was "asked in."

"It was not a formal summons, the Turkish envoy was asked in for talks," it said in a second tweet.  

"German-Turkey relations are facing one of their greatest challenges of the modern era," Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters in Berlin.

Gabriel said freedom of speech was protected by the constitutions of both countries and nobody who claimed to be democratic or to respect human rights could "misuse" its judicial system to go after journalists.

Yücel was first detained on Feb. 14 and an Istanbul court on Feb. 27 ordered him to be jailed pending trial.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ, meanwhile, denied claims that the decision was "political." 

"An independent Turkish court made the decision regarding that person [Yücel]. They have the right to object and there are applications to object. The decision is not political," Bozdağ told journalists in a press meeting with Secretary General of Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland in France on March 1.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Feb. 27 called the decision "disappointing" and "disproportionate," and said Berlin would insist on "fair and legal...