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Germany urges Turkey to release jailed journalist

Xinhua, April 4, 2017 Adjust font size:

German Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Roth on Tuesday called on Turkey to release a jailed German-Turkish correspondent, an episode that has contributed to strained bilateral ties.

"We are pressing for the release of Deniz Yucel," CNNTurk quoted Roth as saying at the German consulate in Istanbul.

German consulate officials met with Yucel in the day in an Istanbul prison for the first time since he was put in jail in February.

After being briefed by a German lawyer who visited Yucel in prison, Roth told reporters that the condition of the journalist "is good under the given circumstances."

"But he is finding the solitary confinement a great strain," the deputy foreign minister added.

Yucel, a 43-year-old working with German newspaper Die Welt, has been charged with making propaganda for a terrorist organization and inciting public violence, which he has denied.

In his speeches, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Yucel as a German agent and representative of the Kurdistan Workers' Party blacklisted as a terror group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

If convicted, Yucel will faces up to 10 years in prison, according to media reports.

The case and a German ban on Turkish ministers joining local rallies in support of an upcoming referendum on granting more powers to Erdogan have further chilled bilateral relations. Endit