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Turkey frees another German 'political prisoner': Berlin

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Turkey frees another German 'political prisoner': Berlin
File photo: DPA

Turkey has released another German citizen from jail, Berlin said Friday amid a gradual thaw in bilateral ties, stressing however that seven more were still being held for "political reasons".

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Without identifying the person, the German foreign ministry said it could "confirm the unconditional release of a German citizen who had been jailed for political reasons in Turkey".

Turkey was however still holding seven German citizens "for political reasons" out of a total of 50 Germans behind bars in the country.

Berlin-Ankara ties have been badly strained, especially since Turkey's 2016 failed coup and subsequent crackdown, which Germany and other western nations have criticised as excessive.

Germany, home to a large Turkish minority, has since urged a cut in EU funding linked to Turkey's membership talks, which have ground to a virtual standstill.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an interview published Thursday, expressed hope for a better relationship with Germany and the EU after a fractious 2017.

His comments followed Turkey's recent release from months of detention of German pilgrim David Britsch and German journalist Mesale Tolu.

However the German-Turkish correspondent of Die Welt newspaper, Deniz Yucel, who was arrested in February, remains behind bars, and no date for his trial has been set.

READ ALSO: Erdogan holds out olive branch to Germany after fractious year

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