Tensions rise for the German school between Berlin and Ankara

German officials demand an explanation after the AKP suddenly shut down a German school in Izmir.

The German Embassy in Ankara demands an explanation to why the Turkish government shut down the German school in Izmir without any reason.

The German mission issued a written statement and said, “One branch of a school under the German embassy has been shut down by the local services of the Turkish Ministry of Education on June 28.”

The Embassy said, “We are calling on the Turkish government to urgently explain why the school was shut down,” and stressed that these institutions are a fundamental factor in the cultural and educational relationship between the two countries.

Berlin and Ankara are trying to mend fences after the relationship deteriorated during the referendum campaign in April 2017 and the attempted coup in July 2016. But new tensions have arised with the shutting down of the German school.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had likened the German government to Nazis when he wasn’t allowed to campaign in Germany for the Constitutional referendum.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had congratulated Erdoğan after the June 24 elections and said she wishes for “a partnership with a stable and pluralist Turkey where democratic participation and the rule of law gets stronger”.