Ankara summons German envoy over treatment of Turkish lawmaker
Turkey has summoned Germany's ambassador in protest to what Ankara says was the "wrongful" treatment of a senior Turkish lawmaker at a German airport.
Ambassador Martin Erdmann was summoned to Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.
Turkish authorities expressed the "discomfort" of what had happened to the deputy speaker of the Turkish parliament, Ayse Nur Bahcekapili, in Cologne two days earlier.
Bahcekapili told state-run news agency Anadolu that German police had stopped her upon arrival at the airport on December 5, making her wait for hours.
The Turkish lawmaker even claimed that officials had attempted to arrest her on the grounds that she was suspected of entering Germany illegally because of a temporary travel document she had.
Other reports said German police had reasons to believe that there were problems with Bahcekapili's documents considering the fact that the lawmaker had lost her passport.
Earlier on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly criticized Berlin over the incident.
"They take her and make her wait for hours. You take a terrorist in and make them welcome in your country," he said in a speech in Ankara, adding, "But you make this country's deputy speaker and her delegation wait for hours. Now, shouldn't we do the same?"
Relations between Germany and Turkey hit a snag in July after Berlin began to criticize Ankara’s way of handling the aftermath of an abortive coup in the same month.
Germany says Turkey has acted beyond the rule of law in its post-coup crackdown, which has seen more than 37,000 people arrested and over 100,000 fired or suspended from their jobs.
Turkey has accused Germany of not doing enough to condemn the coup attempt.
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