Turkish FM Çavuşoğlu speaks to German counterpart on phone amid tensions

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held a phone conversation with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel on Sept. 29, in their first conversation since the federal election in Germany.

The conversation comes after tension between Ankara and Berlin, which spiked before the Sept. 24 election.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan predicted on Sept. 22 thawt bilateral relations would “return to normal after the German election” because the Turkish government “does not have a problem with the people of Germany.”

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım sent a congratulatory letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the election.

Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won the German elections with 33 percent of the votes.

The German chancellor said on Aug. 29 at a Berlin press conference that she wanted to have better relations with Turkey, but the relationship between Berlin and Ankara was currently at “a very complicated phase.”

“I would very much like having better relations, but we have to face reality … It’s a very complicated phase in our relations,” she said.

Germany demands that Turkey free from custody a number of German journalists and rights workers, including Die Welt daily correspondent Deniz Yücel.