(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has called for a fresh start in his country's rocky relationship with Germany, holding out the prospect of closer economic co-operation if ties improved.
However, his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel, who will host Cavusoglu for talks in his hometown of Goslar in central Germany today, made clear that Turkey must first release a German-Turkish journalist detained for more than a year without charge.
'Both sides have an interest in a new start in the bilateral relationship as we live in a time full of challenges, Cavusoglu wrote in a column for Germany's Funke media group of newspapers. 'It is not the time for bullhorn diplomacy.
His comments underlined Turkey's desire to mend fences with Germany, its biggest trade partner and an important Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) ally, after a series of disputes, including over Ankara's large-scale crackdown on suspected supporters of a failed 2016 coup.
Cavusoglu urged Germany to develop a more 'empathetic tone in its dealings with Turkey, saying it did not seem to fully understand the 'trauma caused by the coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which some 240 people were killed.
Gabriel struck a more cautious note in remarks yesterday.
'If we do not speak to one another the situation can certainly not improve neither between our countries nor for individuals still being held in custody, he told the weekly magazine Der Spiegel.
But, noting that Germany has refused to authorise 'a large number of arms exports to Turkey, he added: 'That will remain so until the case of (Deniz) Yucel has been solved.
Turkish authorities have accused Yucel, a correspondent for the German daily Die Welt, of spreading propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
He denies the charge.
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