German citizen Meşale Tolu who worked as a reporter and translator for the Etkin news Agency (ETHA) had been detained and subsequently imprisoned in Istanbul last May. She was released in December following Germany’s efforts, but the Erdoğan regime’s courts issued a foreign travel ban to prevent her from going back to Germany.

Tolu’s ban was lifted yesterday. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the lifting of Tolu’s foreign travel ban is a sign of their relationship with Ankara improving, but there are several German citizens held hostage in Turkey by the Erdoğan government still.

According to the German Foreign Ministry’s data, there are currently 7 German citizens in prisons in Turkey on political charges, but there are claims that this number is actually higher because most of the time Turkish officials delay notifying Germany’s Foreign Ministry about detained citizens.

35 GERMAN CITIZENS ISSUED FOREIGN TRAVEL BANS

There are reports that a further 35 German citizens have been issued foreign travel bans by Turkish authorities. These persons have dual Turkish and German citizenships, and that is how the Turkish state is able to impose such a measure upon them.

Foreign Minister Maas spoke to the press in Berlin and pointing out the German citizens unjustly imprisoned in Turkey, said: “It is unacceptable for us that 7 German citizens are still in prisons.” But the Merkel-led federal government is decidedly not taking any action for these individuals.

Most of the German citizens in prisons have been arrested for criticising the Erdoğan regime on social media, or due to MİT’s espionage activity against them during their routine political activity in Germany. The citizens the Berlin administration is aware of are as follows:

Ilhami A.: Works as a cab driver in Hamburg, Germany. Detained last week in Turkey as he went to visit his mother in Karakochan. He was arrested and placed in the Elazig Prison for “terrorist propaganda” solely because he criticized the Erdoğan government.

Dennis E.: Imprisoned on charges of “PKK propaganda” after his detention in Hatay last July. E. is not a dual citizen, he only holds German citizenship, but Germany is significantly not taking any steps for his freedom.

Ozan Canê: The Kurdish artist living in Cologne had visited Turkey to support the HDP in the June 24 elections, and was detained in a rally in Edirne. He is imprisoned for acting in a film depicting the YPG/YPJ’s struggle against ISIS and for having photos together with YPG fighters.

Adil Demirci: Sociologist and journalist living in Cologne, Demirci was detained and subsequently arrested as he was visiting his mother who had cancer in Istanbul last April. Despite campaigns launched by prominent names in German society and various media organs, the Berlin administration is not pressuring Ankara regime for the release of Demirci either.

OTHER HOSTAGES RELEASED AFTER DIRTY NEGOTIATIONS

Last year, however, the Erdoğan regime had once more implemented hostage politics against Berlin and managed to tally up quite a few compromises. The most prominent name in the tensions and crises between Berlin and Ankara has been Deniz Yücel, a Die Welt reporter, and his arrest had been on the public agenda throughout the incarceration.

Yücel was not released despite constant pressure by the Merkel government, and only acquired his freedom after the then-Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel sat down for dirty negotiations with the Turkish government. Before Gabriel, former Prime Minister Schröder had intervened and met with Erdoğan in Istanbul on a mission given by the Merkel government.

Similarly, activist Peter Steudtner from Berlin who was declared a “member of a terrorist organization” by Erdoğan’s prosecutors even though he had zero works on Turkey and only acquired his freedom in October 2017, after a 3-month long period as a hostage.