Turkey’s Arrest of German Activist Heightens Nations’ Tensions
Mr. Gabriel said he could not advise firms to invest in a country where "even completely innocent companies are judged as being close to terrorists." He added: "I can’t see how we as the German government can continue to guarantee corporate investments
in Turkey if there is the threat of arbitrary expropriation for political reasons." Germany was Turkey’s top export destination in 2016, having bought $14 billion worth of Turkish goods, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Last month, Germany said it would withdraw its forces from a military base in southern Turkey after Mr. Erdogan’s government refused
to guarantee visits to forces there by German lawmakers, which lawmakers are required to do under the German Constitution.
On Wednesday, the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported
that Turkish authorities had handed Berlin a list of 68 German companies they accused of having links to Mr. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.
In Turkey, ministers lashed back, with Mr. Cavusoglu accusing Germany of maintaining an "unacceptable, one-sided attitude." Hours after Mr. Gabriel made his statement, prosecutors
in the western city of Celle said they had arrested a Turkish man on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization and working as a regional leader for the P.K.K.
Michael Werz, a specialist on Turkey and trans-Atlantic relations at the Center for American Progress, a Washington policy research firm, said he feared
that relations had "reached a point of no return." He said the travel warnings by Mr. Gabriel — who is generally viewed as favoring a softer stance toward Turkey — could "hurt the battered tourism section even more." Follow Melissa Eddy on Twitter @meddynyt.
