The international human rights organization Amnesty International urged the German government to negotiate with the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the topic of human rights in his country.

Demonstrations against the Turkish leader are expected in both Berlin and Cologne, and Amnesty International called for Mrs Merkel to use her meetings with Mr Erdogan to address the “dramatic human rights situation in Turkey”.

Erdogan's official visit to Berlin should be a reason to "clearly defend all innocent people who were intentionally arrested" in Turkey, said Markus Beeko, the Secretary General of Amnesty International in Germany,  DW reported.

“In such a situation, a state visit must be used to advocate clearly for all arbitrarily and innocently imprisoned people,” the organisation said.

According to Beeko, at the moment more than 150 journalists are serving their sentences in Turkish prisons, more than in any other country in the world.