Turkey accuses Germany of 'great political irresponsibility'

ISTANBUL - 20 July 2017:Turkey on Thursday accused Germany of displaying "great political irresponsibility" in stepping up a travel warning for the country after Berlin reacted angrily to Ankara's latest arrests of human rights activists.

"Sending a message... (to Germans) telling them that it's not safe to travel to Turkey is a great political irresponsibility," presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said after Berlin warned it could no longer guarantee its citizens' safety in the country.

"We do not accept this," he added in televised comments.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, a day after his ministry summoned Turkey's ambassador, had interrupted his holidays and returned to Berlin to deliver an unusually strong rebuke towards President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He accused Erdogan of trying to muzzle "every critical voice" with mass arrests, the latest the holding of six human rights activists including Amnesty International's Turkey director Idil Eser and Berlin-based activist Peter Steudtner.

But Kalin dismissed Berlin's angry reaction, saying it was down to the looming federal elections in September where Chancellor Angela Merkel will seek to stay in power.

"They (the Germans) need to free themselves from this paralysis of thinking and reflect in a more rational manner," Kalin said.

Gabriel had also said Germany would review state guarantees for foreign investment in Turkey and urge businesses against putting their money there.

But Kalin retorted that of the up to 7,000 German firms in Turkey, not a single one has ever suffered from an "injustice".

"There is nothing of the sort. Saying such a thing is to sacrifice our relations and we won't allow this," he said.

"It's unacceptable to try and damage economic relations, try and arouse doubts in the minds of German investors for the sake of petty electoral calculations," he added.