Two days after the release of German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will visit Germany once a new government is in place, dpa reported.
“Once the new German government has been formed, there will of course be a visit at the highest level,” Yildirim said in an interview with dpa on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“President Erdoğan will come [to Germany] and Merkel, the German chancellor, will go to Turkey,” added Yıldırım.
Erdoğan in March accused Merkel of being engaged in Nazi tactics against Turks living in Germany. Targeting Merkel, the Turkish president repeated his Nazi remarks in September.
Yücel, a German Turkish journalist whose detention had been a source of tension between Ankara and Berlin, was released on Friday by an İstanbul court following a year spent in Silivri Prison, after he was formally charged with disseminating the propaganda of a terrorist organization.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the release followed months of diplomacy that included two meetings with President Erdoğan.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported that prosecutors had filed an indictment against Yücel seeking a sentence of four to 18 years.
“This was a very interesting day. I was given a court decision while I was leaving the [Silivri] prison. A ruling by the 3rd Penal Court of Peace dated February 13 [2018]: Continuation of arrest. Despite this ruling I was released. Why I was released today, why I was arrested a year ago, I still do not know,” Yücel said in a video posted on social media after he arrived in Germany.
“Whatever it is. I know that neither my arrest last year — I was taken hostage — nor my release today is related to the law or the rule of law. I know this very well. I think everybody who sees this situation can understand it,” he added.
“There is a lot to say, but that is all for now.”