UPDATE - Ankara condemns arrest of Turkish journalists by Germany, calls for immediate release

ADDS MORE REMARKS FROM TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Ankara on Wednesday called on Germany to release Turkish journalists arrested in Frankfurt after reporting on the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye.

"The detention of Frankfurt Bureau representatives of Sabah newspaper by the German police today without justification is an act of harassment and intimidation against the Turkish press. We strongly condemn this heinous act," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"We expect the immediate release of journalists who were targeted by a false denunciation of a FETO member for their reporting on the terrorist organization FETO's activities in Germany," it added.

Necessary initiatives have been taken in Germany regarding the issue, and our strong reaction is conveyed to the German ambassador to Ankara, Jurgen Schulz, who was summoned today, the ministry said.

"Right after the first round of the successful Presidential Elections and the 28th Term Parliamentary Elections, we consider it a deliberate act that the German authorities directly detained the aforementioned press members without even inviting them to testify.

“This action against a free press by Germany, which attempts to lecture the world about freedom of the press and freedom of expression, reveals its double-standard approach,” it added.