MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkish police detained two German citizens in the country's resort city of Antalya, local media reported on Friday, citing spokeswoman of the German Foreign Ministry Maria Adebahr.
"Once against two German citizens were detained in Turkey … We believe that in most cases [German citizens] are detained groundlessly. We must decisively react to the issue… Following today's events, we should probably further review [policy toward Turkey]," Merkel said as quoted by the N24 media outlet.
The information about the detentions was obtained from non-governmental sources and later confirmed by the airport police, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported, adding that the reasons behind detentions were unknown.
Bilateral relations between the two countries continued to worsen this year, after Germany decided to ban Turkish pre-referendum rallies on its soil and Ankara refused to allow lawmakers from Berlin to visit the Incirlik air base, where German troops are stationed.
Berlin has also strongly criticized the detention of German journalists and human rights activists in Turkey.
