Hessian Minister of European and Federal Affairs and Representative of the State of Hessen at the Federal Government, Lucia Puttrich, a close associate of Merkel will be visiting Turkey between 3-4 October. Puttrich will meet with Turkish officials in Istanbul and the talks will focus on the issue of imprisoned German citizens in Turkey.

According to the Germen Foreign Ministry, 57 German nationals are currently held in Turkish prisons and four are in deportation centres. Twelve of them are accused of political crimes including human rights defender Peter Steudtner and journalist Deniz Yücel.

Puttrich wants to address issues such as the arrest of German citizens during her meetings with Turkish counterparts, Merkel’s office said in a statement.

Puttrich will also meet with representatives of civil society representatives and German foundations in Turkey.

The occasion of Puttrich's visit to Turkey is the German Unity Day celebrations at the German Consulate in Istanbul. But such a high-level politician has never attended German Unity Day celebrations in Turkey.

Merkel sent very strong messages against Turkey prior to the German elections on September 24. She drew some criticism in Germany for sending a high-level envoy to Turkey just a week after the election.