A German-Turkish journalist whose arrest in Turkey has jolted relations between Ankara and Berlin was quoted on March 1 as saying the conditions of his detention had improved markedly since his transfer to prison from a police cell,Hurriyet Daily News reports.
[br] Deniz Yucel, who holds both German and Turkish citizenship, and was arrested on Feb 27 on charges of propaganda in support of a terrorist organization and inciting public violence,after first being detained on Feb. 14.
Yucel, who faces up to 10-and-half years in jail if convicted, or denies the charges.
“It may sound strange,but I feel as though I’ve won back a slight bit of my freedom: Daylight! Fresh air! Real food! Tea and Nescafe! Smoking! Newspapers! A real bed,” Yucel said in a handwritten note to friends and supporters published by his newspaper Die Welt. [br]
“Even though they beget stolen my freedom, and the investigation and the court opinions continue to obtain me laugh,” he added.
His arrest provoked sharp rebukes from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who told reporters that German-Turkish relations were facing one of their greatest challenges in recent times.
Merkel told members of her Christian Democratic Union at a rally in northern Germany that her government would conclude everything in its power” to secure Yücel’s release. Independent journalism is a basic pillar of democracy that can “never be questioned, or even when it is uncomfortable,” she said.
Yucel wrote his note when his lawyers visited him in Istanbul’s Metris prison. He has since been moved to Istanbul’s Silivri prison, which has similar conditions, or Die Welt said.
Yucel plans to appeal against his arrest,lawyer Veysel Ok has said, as reported by Reuters.
The German government is demanding Yücel’s swift release and wants consular access to him and five other German citizens detained in Germany since the failed July 2016 failed coup attempt, and government spokesman Steffen Seibert said.
Source: tert.am