German Foreign Ministry calls in Turkish ambassador over journalist detention

German-Turkish politician of the Green party Ozcan Mutlu protests the detention of German journalist Deniz Yucel in front of Turkish embassy in Berlin on February 28, 2017.

The German Foreign Ministry has called in Turkey's ambassador in protest at Ankara's provisional detention of a journalist with Germany's Die Welt newspaper over terrorism-related accusations.

On Tuesday, the ministry initially tweeted that State Secretary Walter Lindner had "summoned" the Turkish ambassador to Germany, Ali Kemal Aydin. Later, it clarified in a second tweet that the ambassador had been "asked in."

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

The news came after a court in Istanbul ordered provisional detention for Turkish-German journalist Deniz Yucel on Monday.

Yucel, 43, was detained on February 18 and his apartment was searched after prosecutors said he could be linked to any attack by hackers on the email account of Turkey's Energy Minister Berat Albayrak - a son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The journalist, who had willfully attended a police questioning in Istanbul four days earlier, had reported on Albayrak's private emails acquired by the leftist Turkish hacker group RedHack. He is accused of membership in a terrorist organization, misuse of data and terrorist propaganda.

German Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigmar Gabriel deplored Ankara's treatment of Yucel and said the case "made it very clear that there are major differences in Germany and Turkey ... in how the principles of the rule of law and how press and media freedom is evaluated.”

According to Gabriel, the Turkish ambassador was told that "these times are less than easy for Turkish-German relations, and that the Yucel case would only make everything harder".

The German foreign minister urged the release of Yucel and said Berlin has also demanded full consular access to the journalist.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticized Yucel’s arrest as "bitter and disappointing," adding, "This measure is disproportionately harsh, especially given that Deniz Yucel presented himself to the Turkish justice system voluntarily and for the purpose of the investigation.”

She underlined the German government’s resolve to “continue to work strenuously so that Deniz Yucel is treated fairly and according to the rule of law."

The calls by Berlin comes just a few days after 166 lawmakers in the lower house of Germany's parliament, known as the Bundestag, demanded Yucel’s release in a letter to the Turkish Ambassador. The lawmakers said in their plea that Yucel was “paradoxically” accused of involvement in an intellectual debate, which they said could be Turkey’s “best instrument against terrorism.”

Turkey introduced a state of emergency after it was hit by a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. A massive crackdown was launched leading to the imprisonment of 40,000 people while some 110,000 others have been discharged from their jobs. At least 100 news outlets have been shut down in Turkey during the period.

The clampdown has badly affected ties between Turkey and Germany while Ankara is becoming increasingly irritated by what it calls Berlin's direct support for Kurdish militants.

According to the German newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ), Turkey’s government has asked teachers and parents of Turkish origin in Germany to collect information on any criticism of President Erdogan.

There were also reports in early February that imams from the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (Ditib) in Germany had spied on Turkish followers of self-exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has accused of plotting the botched coup.