Germany is concerned about mass arrests and restrictions of freedom of expression in Turkey, said the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the end of the meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Steinmeier asked the Turkish government not to asses this as an arrogance or concerns over morality. The minister expressed a hope that the Turkish-German relations would reach the same level, as they had been before, reports the DW.

At the same time, Steinmeier said that the recent statement of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that Germany has become a haven for the militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, left his bewildered. The minister noted that the activities of that party were banned in Germany.