Deniz Yücel

A mayor from Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) was arrested over his suspected links to the FETÖ, the group behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt, a prosecutor's office said on Dec. 17.

İbrahim Burak Oğuz, the mayor of Urla district in the Aegean province of İzmir, is the first head of a CHP-run municipality to be arrested since the March 31 local elections.

German citizen Mehmet Y. was detained in the Bulgarian city of Varna late on Tuesday at the behest of the Turkish government.

The German Foreign Ministry confirmed the arrest and said the embassy in Sofia was providing the man with consular service.

German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel, who was detained in Turkey a year ago, has been released from jail, German newspaper Die Welt reported on Feb. 16 citing his lawyer.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants a personal meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to redress the strained relations of their countries. This was stated by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevluth Chavusoglu, quoted by DPA, at a meeting with German journalists late last night.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the Turkish government was encouraging the judiciary to speed up an indictment against German journalist Deniz Yucel on Monday, Deutsche Welle reported. 

A businessman known as the “money vault” of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) has been returned to Turkey, a security official said on Nov. 27.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Nov. 23 that the Turkish army was not the army of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) nor any foreign organization.

Germans voted on Sept. 24 in a general election expected to hand Chancellor Angela Merkel a fourth term, with Turkey hoping that the recent crisis between the two NATO allies will ease with the new government.

Germany will have no choice but to restrict its economic ties with Turkey to pressure its NATO partner into releasing German citizens it imprisoned on political grounds, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in remarks published on Sept. 16.

Halting accession talks with Turkey would be a strategic mistake by the European Union, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Sept. 10, amid a war of words raging between Berlin and Ankara. 

During a recent election debate, both Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Social Democratic rival Martin Schulz endorsed ending Turkey's EU accession talks.