Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, on September 3, 2016. (Photo: Anadolu Agency)

Berlin (CNSNews.com) – Germany has accused Turkey’s Islamist government of holding its citizens as “hostages” in a bid to secure the extradition from Germany of people Ankara accuses of involvement in terrorism and last year’s failed coup attempt.

On Wednesday, a group of human rights activists, including German citizen Peter Steudtner, Swedish national Ali Gharavi, and the Turkish director of Amnesty International, Idel Eser, appeared in an Istanbul court on charges of terrorism.

The court released eight on bail but the trial continues. They have denied charges of membership and giving support to an armed terrorist group.

Steudtner is one of 12 German citizens currently detained in Turkey, under a massive crackdown launched by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the aftermath of the July 2016 coup bid. Others include German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, and German journalist Mesale Tolu, who is incarcerated along with her three-year-old son.

Erdogan accuses U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen of responsibility for the coup plot. A state clampdown on supposed Gulen supporters has seen more than 50,000 people detained and more than 120,000 others sacked from the military and civil services.

Germany and the European Union – which Turkey still aspires to join – have strongly criticized the sweeping purges.

Germany also believes Turkey is holding at least one of its citizens effectively as a hostage as it tries to get Germany-based suspects extradited.

“Turkey, in my opinion, holds him [journalist Deniz Yucel] captive as a hostage,” Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in an interview with the German version of BuzzFeed.

Erdogan has reportedly suggested releasing Yucel in exchange for two Turkish generals who applied for asylum in Germany in June, although no official offer was made.

The dpa news agency reported this week that Turkey has lodged 81 extradition requests for alleged terror suspects in Germany since Erdogan’s post-coup crackdown. (Erdogan is also trying to get the U.S. to extradite Gulen, with no success to date.)

Germany’s Justice Ministry has not given details on whether it has taken action on any of the requests.

The “hostage” perception is not exclusive to Germany. Last month Erdogan hinted that he could release Andrew Brunson, an American evangelical pastor who has been held for more than a year, in exchange for Gulen. The comments prompted charges in the U.S. that Brunson was effectively being held as a hostage.

Turkish authorities have also been trying to extradite German citizens from other countries, including Ukraine and Spain.

The various extradition requests are based on allegations ranging from involvement in the coup attempt and supporting Gulen’s movement, to publishing “terrorist” propaganda, to links to banned armed groups like the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).

Berlin’s decision to grant asylum to more than 400 Turkish army officers and government workers who fled after the coup bid has added to bilateral tensions. They are among more than 600 Turkish civil servants who according to Germany’s Interior Ministry have sought asylum in Germany as of mid-September.

Ankara’s frustrations with Germany were evident last week when Erdogan said he had given Berlin 4,500 files relating to PKK suspects but had received no feedback.

At an E.U. summit last week Thursday German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her earlier call to end Turkey's E.U. membership accession talks and to impose economic sanctions on Ankara.

“Not only are Germans being arrested, but the entire rule of law in Turkey is moving in the wrong direction,” she said. “We are very worried about this.”