Germany: Merkel Warns of “Decisive Action” Against NATO Ally Turkey
Turkey has detained two more German citizens, bringing the total to 12
NATO ally Turkey seems to be going out of its way to tweak German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Last month, Turkey arrested, among others, a German citizen, and Merkel called the move “unacceptable.”
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to have been unimpressed because his government just arrested two more Germans. Merkel has now declared that “decisive action” must be taken. She does not specify what action she means, though she does threaten to “rethink” Germany’s relations with Turkey.
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday said Germany should react decisively to Ankara’s detention of two further German citizens, amid growing calls for Berlin to issue a formal travel warning for Germans heading to Turkey.
Twelve German citizens are now in Turkish detention on political charges, four of them holding dual citizenship. Among these is German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, who will have been in detention 200 days on Friday.
Under the circumstances, Merkel said she did not think it was appropriate to carry out further discussions with Ankara about its participation in a European Union customs union.
“We must react decisively,” Merkel told a business event in the southern city of Nuremberg, noting that Germany had already fundamentally revamped its relations with Ankara.
“Given the latest events, perhaps it is necessary to rethink them ever further.”
Turkey currently holds 12 Germans who’ve been arrested and detained for a range of offenses.
Relations between the two NATO allies have deteriorated sharply after Berlin sharply criticised Ankara over the crackdown that followed last year’s failed coup attempt.
The arrest of several German nationals, including the Turkish-German journalist Deniz Yucel, the Istanbul correspondent of the Die Welt daily, further frayed ties.
Yucel has now spent 200 days in Turkish custody ahead of a trial on terror charges.
German journalist Mesale Tolu has been held on similar charges since May, while human rights activist Peter Steudtner was arrested in a July raid.
Following Steudtner’s arrest, Germany vowed stinging measures impacting tourism and investment in Turkey and a full “overhaul” of their troubled relations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, has also sparked outrage after charging that Germany is sheltering plotters of last year’s coup, as well as Kurdish militants and terrorists, and demanded their extradition.
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Comments
Merkel is all blow and no go.
Does anyone have any doubt on which side Turkey will take in any NATO conflict? Time to look for real allies.
This is how Merkel is rewarded for taking in almost a Million Muslim invaders. What she should be doing is sending them all back home and closing the flow of savages from Turkey. Europe needs to stand firm against Turkey if they expect to get Erdogans attention. Now that Tillerson and McMaster had cleaned out all of the anti Jihadist from the white house, Erdogan feels more comfortable doing whatever he wants.
When Merkel decides to take “decisive action” against rapists in her own country, then I’ll believe she might be able to oppose Erdogan.
Til then, the most action I can see her taking is an impassioned leaflet campaign – in Dusseldorf.
“Decisive” action, as opposed to dumba$$ action.
Turkey is now an Islamic dictatorship. They should be treated accordingly.
My. I wonder how Germany’s new Islamist voters and politicians will respond to this alarmingly Trumpist rhetoric.
This woman is an odd combination of pre-WW2 DNA: a little bit Hilter, with a whole lot of and Neville Chamberlain.
Disaster for Europe, once again. Fools like Merkel sowed the seeds of WW3, and the democrat media’s diapered-one barack obama, lit the fuse. Bill Clinton did his part by first enabling North Korea’s weapons programs. Hillary Clinton did her part by selling influence while secretary of state. Wasserman SSchultz did her part by giving carte blanche private congressional information to Pakistani criminals. Obama again – doing his part by decimating the US military, and infesting our government with fellow traitors.
Then there’s the the scummy GOPe, sitting on the sidelines and/or hiding out in their boehner bunkers.
It’s us, the conservative congressional caucus and Donald Trump. Count on, nor trust anyone else.
Rather hard for her to do anything with the unspoken threat of hundreds of thousands of Turks in Germany retaliating for anything she orders.
You can be sure she’s in league with them.
Merkel’s excuse to manufacture a fake crisis and then become outright Fuhrer Dictator of the EU?
Not, not that Hitlerish.
Merkel is the intelligent version of a cancer like obama – she wants her ‘clique’ to govern with a soft dictatorship born out of dependency, morphing into an Orwellian nightmare she and her clique control.
Merkel is vastly more able than a pathetic contrivance like obama.
Sad for Europe about Merkel. Fortunate for us about obama.
Yes, the invaders have already won. Like a chicken running around without its head, Germany is dead but it doesn’t know it yet.
I wonder if the oh-so-intelligent Merkel realizes that she’s imported a Turkish controlled army into Germany? She welcomed the invasion and is only now kicking that the successful invaders are changed the rules.
She’s consulting with Obama on how to write a sternly worded letter.
She’s not as dumb as obama. She has something else up her sleeve. The Turkish invaders are a tool of hers, much like illegal aliens and street criminals were obama’s. He was just too dumb to pull off what Merkel is pulling off.
I don’t think there’s a German word for “cuckhold.”
It’s “Merkel”.