BERLIN (Reuters) - Turkey has formally withdrawn a request for German help in investigating nearly 700 German firms suspected of backing terrorism, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Monday, removing a major irritant in frayed ties between the two NATO allies.

Turkey’s interior minister told his German counterpart in a telephone call on Monday that Ankara’s submission of the list through Interpol stemmed from “a communications problem,” spokesman Tobias Plate told a regular government news conference.

“(The interior minister) underscored that there were no investigations against German firms by Turkish authorities in Turkey or in Germany,” Plate said.

A spokeswoman for the economy ministry told reporters that further measures regarding Turkey were still being examined.