Four Germans detained during Turkey elections, says German Foreign Ministry

BERLIN – Reuters

Maria Adebahr

Four German citizens were detained in Turkey during Sunday’s elections, a German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said, with one of them subsequently released.

“I can confirm that three German citizens were arrested,” Maria Adebahr told a news conference on June 25.

“I cannot confirm that these were election observers in the sense of being member of the [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] OSCE mission,” she added.

The fourth German citizen, a businesswoman, had been released and was not banned from leaving the country, Adebahr said.

Legal proceedings were started on June 24 against 10 foreign citizens “who posed as election observers and attempted to interfere with the election,” Interior Ministry officials told state-run Anadolu Agency on June 24 as the voting in Turkey was underway.

The Turkish officials said the suspects did not have accreditation and were not OSCE observers.

Despite this, the foreigners introduced themselves as observers and attempted to interfere with the elections in four provinces of Turkey, the officials stated.

Legal proceedings were started against three French nationals in the eastern province of Ağrı, three Germans in the southeastern province of Şırnak, three Italians in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, and one Italian in the southeastern province of Batman, they said.