Turkey claims German companies support terror
July 20, 2017
Ankara has handed Germany what police sources called a "ridiculous" list of 68 companies and individuals in Germany who have ties with Fethullah Gulen, enemy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Die Zeit reported on Wednesday.
Turkey blames Gulen and his followers for the failed military coup a year ago, in which over 250 civilians lost their lives in the violence. The movement is banned and branded as a terrorist faction by the state.
The list, forwarded to Germany several weeks ago, names the car maker Daimler and chemical company BASF as backers of terrorism, but also includes a Turkish fast food restaurant and a late-night food store.
Earlier this month, Erdogan told Die Zeit that his officials sent 4,500 files on alleged Gulen sympathizers to Germany and demanded that they be extradited to Turkey.
"You need to deliver these terrorists to Turkey," he said. "As long as you don't, Turkey will perceive Germany as a country which is protecting terrorists."
German officials view the list from Ankara as "absurd" and "ridiculous." Germany's Federal Criminal Police (BKA) has requested additional information from their Turkish colleagues, but has received no reply so far, Die Zeit reports.
Germany has been locked in a long-running diplomatic row with Turkey, with Berlin slamming the purges by Erdogan's administration and accusing the Turkish government of using violence to silence its political opponents. Earlier on Wednesday, Germany summoned the Turkish ambassador in Berlin to protest the arrest of several human rights activists, including German citizen Peter Steudtner.
dj/bk (dpa, Reuters, AFP)