Ankara slams West’s silence over arrest of Turkish journalists in Germany

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye's communications director on Thursday criticized the West’s silence over detention of two Turkish journalists in Germany over their story against the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye.

In a Twitter post, Fahrettin Altun said: "Blind leading the blind! Both the shameless operation targeting Turkish journalists legally operating in Germany and those keeping silent have done something completely unacceptable."

Earlier, TRT World's Washington correspondent asked US State Department's deputy spokesman Vedant Patel to comment on the arrest of Turkish journalists in Germany.

Patel declined to comment and said: “I don’t know the specifics of this case.”

Altun said that "those daring to lecture Türkiye, where hundreds of foreign reporters work freely, at every turn have revealed the true face of their so-called values today."

"It is perfectly clear that this operation, intended to intimidate Turkish journalists, was planned with the assumption that certain politicians, who promised to make Türkiye toe the Western line in their meeting with foreign ambassadors, could actually win on May 14," he added.

“Our message is clear: One way or another, you will come to terms with the fact that Türkiye will continue to be a great state that defends its citizens and hold accountable anyone daring to hurt them under the strong leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” Altun said.

Ismail Erel and Cemil Albay, senior journalists working for Turkish daily Sabah, were arrested in the early hours on Wednesday, after dozens of police personnel raided their homes in German city of Frankfurt. Their phones, laptops and electronic storage devices were also seized by the police.

They were released several hours after their arrest.