Jailed in Turkey

The flirtations of a 17-year-old German schoolboy are now headed towards a diplomatic confrontation between Germany and Turkey.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Monday that he would seek release of the teenager, Marco Weiss, who has been held for 10 weeks in a Turkish jail over allegations that he had sexually molested a 13-year-old British girl, referred to as Charlotte M., while vacationing in a popular Turkish resort on the Antalyan coast.

The girl's mother had demanded that Turkish police arrest and prosecute Weiss for sexually molesting her daughter, according to Germany's Der Spiegel Online. The teenager claimed that he had only flirted with and kissed the girl, who said she was 15 years old.

Harsh prison conditions

Weiss has been held in a cell with a single lavatory and toilet that he shares with 30 other prisoners since early April. His parents, who were in Antalya, told the German press that they were allowed to see their son only once a week and were separated from him by a glass screen.

"He is in very bad shape physically and psychologically," said the family lawyer Jürgen Schmidt at a press conference in the small town of Ülzen in Lower Saxony, where the parents live. "Marco sees himself as completely innocent and is baffled by what is going on."

The Weiss family had already appealed to the Turkish justice authorities to release their son, but their pleas went unheeded.

Marco Weiss was supposed to be freed on bail until a court hearing scheduled for July 6, which has been postponed, according to a spokesman from the foreign ministry. But a Turkish judge had denied his release.

German appeal

Now the German government has issued an appeal for the schoolboy's immediate release from prison at the highest level.

"This is a tragic case that does not leave us unmoved," said Steinmeier at a human rights conference in southern Germany. "We are giving as much support to the family as we can. Our embassy is taking action. I'll be meeting the Turkish ambassador tomorrow and will demand the release of the 17-year-old."

There was no immediate response from the Turkish government to Germany's demands. An editorial in the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet however strongly criticized the German government for "insulting the Turkish justice system."

Unfair criticism?

"It would be unthinkable for the Turkish government to ask the German government in such a manner to free a Turkish citizen imprisoned in Germany," the newspaper wrote.

Marco's mother is back in Turkey to give support to her son. His father is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for leukemia in Germany.

In the last few weeks, Marco was supposed to sit for his high school exams and had already applied for admission to a technical school. If convicted, he would face up to eight years in jail.