BERLIN, Sept 7 The German government said on Wednesday that press freedom is non-negotiable after German worldwide broadcaster Deutsche Welle complained that Turkey had confiscated the recording of an interview with a minister at his office in Ankara.
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In the latest issue to trouble relations, Deutsche Welle on Tuesday condemned the confiscation of an interview it had conducted with a Turkish minister as a “blatant violation” of press freedom.
The German ambassador in Turkey had contacted the chief of Kilic’s office over the Deutsche Welle case, said the spokesman, Martin Schaefer.
Merkel’s top spokesman Steffen Seibert insisted Wednesday that “press freedom, for us, is a high, I would even say non-negotiable” right.
Cavusoglu told “Die Welt” Wednesday that if Germany “behaves as it’s doing now we will consider it”, – implying restoration of parliamentarian access. Turkey has also shut many media outlets.
Deutsche Welle reporter Michel Friedman had asked the minister about the attempted coup, the subsequent mass dismissals and arrests and the media situation before the tape was confiscated, the broadcaster said.
In June, Ankara restricted a delegation of German lawmakers’ access to the air base, where Bundeswehr forces involved in the US-led coalition campaign against the Daesh terrorist group are deployed, after the German parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the early 20th century massacre of ethnic-Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
The impasse was eased last Friday when the German government said the Bundestag parliament’s nearly unanimous Armenia resolution was not binding.
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It said he will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Defense Minister Fikri Isik and other high-level officials.
