German human rights activist Peter Steudtner was detained along with 9 other human rights defenders from a meeting held in Büyükada, Istanbul on security for human rights defenders, and was arrested along with 5 of the rights defenders. Following the arrests, a new crisis broke out between Berlin and Ankara. 

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel cut his summer vacation short and held a press statement in Berlin to announce sanctions to be imposed upon Ankara. Gabriel pointed out that he had met with Chancellor Merkel and the administration from the other coalition partner, the SPD, and that these decisions were made by the federal government, and added that mutual trust has been damaged with each new crisis between the two countries.

GABRIEL: STEUDTNER HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH TURKEY

Gabriel stated that Peter Steudtner has been the 22nd German citizen to be detained after the July 15 coup attempt and said: “What is interesting is that Steudtner has nothing to do with Turkey. He is not a Turkey expert, nor does he have any research on Turkish politics. Despite this fact, he was detained by the Turkish police on July 5 with allegations of ‘terrorism’.”

The German Foreign Minister stated that 9 German citizens are in Turkish prisons as of now and continued: “The right to meet with the consulate recognized by international law is never given after any of the detentions. This right is only given following our attempts and efforts.”

Gabriel stated that Erdoğan insulted the Berlin administration by saying they “engaged in Nazi practices” when Germany banned AKP rallies leading up to the April 16 referendum, and added: “We acted conscionably after every provocation. We showed patience in the face of unacceptable statements. But we are at the end of our patience.”

EU FUNDS, TRAVEL AND INVESTMENT WARNING

Gabriel implied that they won’t be using the same approach in the coming period, and stated that Turkey drifted away from not only European values, but NATO values as well. Gabriel announced that they will be reshaping their policies on Turkey and called on the AKP regime to “return to the EU values”.

German Foreign Minister Gabriel announced the sanctions as “EU funds”, “travel warning” and “reconsidering credit guarantees”.

Gabriel said they are going to start a series of meetings in Brussels to cut off Turkey’s access to EU funds, and added: “We can’t advise anybody to invest in a country where there is no guarantee of law and people are detained and arrested every day. We will be reconsidering the credit guarantees for German exports.”

Gabriel also announced that they will be toughening the travel warning for German citizens wishing to visit Turkey: “This issue interests all German citizens. Any German citizen visiting Turkey runs the risk of allegations of terrorism and detention.”