In Turkey, another German citizen has been arrested. As NDR, WDR and "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported on Tuesday evening, the 36-year-old Osman B. from Hesse was arrested nine days ago when entering Turkey. The Turkish authorities accuse him of spreading "terror propaganda" on his Facebook page. If convicted, he faces several years imprisonment.
The man reportedly flew to Turkey at the end of July and was arrested after his arrival at the airport of the seaside resort of Antalya. A magistrate later decided that the man had to remain in pre-trial detention because of the risk of absconding.
The Foreign Ministry announced that the embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara and the consulate in Antalya were informed and initiated "necessary steps". At first there were no details.
Federal Government has tightened travel advice
In 2017, a series of arrests of German citizens for "political reasons" led to a serious crisis between Berlin and Ankara. Since then, the majority of Germans arrested for these reasons have been freed.
The case now would not be the first case in which a German comes into conflict with the Turkish judiciary for critical posts in social media. The Federal Government had repeatedly tightened its travel advice for Turkey - most recently in March.
"Sufficient in individual cases is the sharing or 'liking' of a foreign post corresponding content," it says on the website of the Foreign Office. And: "It must be assumed that even non-public comments in social media be forwarded by anonymous denunciation to the Turkish law enforcement agencies".
Interior Minister warned against tourists with terrorist connections
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu had warned in the spring, according to the state news agency Anadolu: "There are those who participate in the events of the terrorist organization in Europe and Germany and then in Antalya, Bodrum and Mugla vacation."
With "the terrorist organization" he meant among other things the prohibited Kurdish workers' party PKK classified in the EU and Turkey as a terrorist organization. "Let them come here and come in from the airports, we'll arrest them - and go!" The interior minister had said at the time.
The Turkish government said that the statements were taken out of context. Tourists from Germany and all other countries are still welcome.