Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu told German Focus Magazine on Saturday that there is no security guarantee for anyone in Turkey, underlining it was not safe for Germans to travel to Turkey.
According to a Reuters story on Saturday, Kılıçdaroğlu said “I consider it completely inappropriate to designate German journalists or other citizens who come to Turkey for professional reasons as spies.”
Criticizing the arrest of journalists in Turkey, Kılıçdaroğlu said he also feared being arrested and hauled before a court after he completed a 25-day march from Ankara to İstanbul in protest of CHP deputy, former journalist, Enis Berberoğlu’s arrest.
Ankara’s relations with Berlin have been strained since Turkey’s crackdown on opposition groups, including journalists and human rights defenders, after a botched coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
The relations further strained after Turkey jaield German-Turkish journalists Deniz Yücel and Meşale Tolu and human rights activist Peter Steudtner on terror charges.