BERLIN (Sputnik) — Yucel, working for Die Welt newspaper, was arrested in Istanbul in February for allegedly spreading propaganda materials of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara. Berlin repeatedly called for the release of the journalist.
"We use all legal means to defend freedom of reporting of both Deniz Yucel and the publishing house. The complaint with the European Court of Human Rights is another step, an important one. We cannot idly take that a journalist can be detained simply because he does his job," Stephanie Caspar, the CEO of WeltN24, said, as quoted by the newspaper.
Yucel himself filed a complaint in April, and in July, the court asked Turkish government for clarifications regarding the arrest of the journalist, the media added.
In July, German media reported, citing diplomatic sources, that Ankara offered to exchange Yucel for two Turkish generals that asked for diplomatic asylum in Germany after 2016 failed coup attempt. Neither German nor Turkish officials confirmed the information.
