Top Merkel aide says Turkey’s conduct ‘unacceptable’

BERLIN (Reuters) – Turkey’s behavior is “unacceptable” and Germany has a duty to protect its citizens and companies but also wants to maintain strong ties with Ankara, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff said on Sunday.

 

Relations between the NATO allies have deteriorated since Turkey arrested six rights activists, including one German, two weeks ago as part of a wider crackdown since last year’s failed coup against President Tayyip Erdogan.

 

“We want to have good relations with this big and important country but that’s only possible if Turkey is and remains a state under the rule of law,” Peter Altmaier told newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

 

“Turkey’s behavior is unacceptable,” Altmaier said when asked about Turkey barring German lawmakers from visiting soldiers at a base in Turkey, the arrest of Germans and Erdogan’s recent comments on Germany.

 

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