Germany’s Foreign Ministry responded to the written inquiry submitted by the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) regarding the entry ban Turkey issued for German citizens. The ministry announced that Turkey has issued entry bans for a total of 162 German citizens from January 2017 to August 23, 2018.

The German Foreign Ministry didn’t say why the entry bans were issued. AfD MP Anton Friesen, who submitted the inquiry, said: “Turkey’s ban against our citizens is unacceptable.”

MP Friesen demanded that the Merkel government pressure the Ankara administration so German citizens can freely enter and exit Turkey. According to data from the German Foreign Ministry, there are currently 50 German citizens in Turkish prisons. 7 of these are political prisoners while the rest are imprisoned for other violations.

ALL EYES ON MAAS’ VISIT

Meanwhile, all eyes are on German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas’ 2-day visit to Turkey. Maas will kick off his meetings in Ankara this afternoon and will meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Parliamentary Chair Binali Yıldırım and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Maas spoke to German news agency DPA before the visit and gave warm messages for the Ankara regime. Maas said there are deep ties between German and Turkish societies and the two peoples have many common interests, and added that they want to keep working to deepen the relationship.