ISTANBUL: The top diplomats of Germany and Turkey on Saturday met for previously unannounced talks in a southern Turkish resort, as a range of bitter rows strain ties between the two NATO allies.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu hosted German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel for the informal talks in Antalya, both sides said in statements on Twitter.
Berlin has been outraged by the detention of German nationals under Turkey’s state of emergency imposed after last year’s failed coup, while Ankara has accused Germany of meddling in its affairs.
The meeting is the first between the two diplomats since tensions reached a new peak in the run-up to the German elections on September 24.
“I met my colleague @sigmargabriel in Antalya informally to discuss bilateral relations; including the difficult issues and mutual expectations,” Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter.
The German foreign ministry issued a similar statement.
Pictures showed the two men, dressed in jackets without ties, chatting informally under blue skies in Antalya, Cavusoglu’s home region.
The meeting comes just over a week after German activist Peter Steudtner was released following his arrest along with members of Amnesty International in July on disputed terror charges.
Another German citizen, who was not identified, was also released in a separate case but cannot leave the country, the German foreign ministry said Friday.
But nine Germans still remain behind bars in Turkey including most prominently Die Welt daily correspondent Deniz Yucel, who was arrested in February, and German journalist Mesale Tolu.
Gabriel had last month thanked former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who retains warm personal ties with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for helping broker the releases.
But Ankara denied any such deal.
The tensions have risen into one of the worst ever crises between Turkey and Germany, which is home to a large Turkish minority. Berlin has repeatedly expressed skepticism about the future of Turkey’s EU membership bid.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged a cut in EU funding linked to Turkey’s membership talks to signal the bloc’s unhappiness over the crackdown in the wake of the failed July 2016 coup.
Germany, Turkey top diplomats hold talks amid tensions
Germany, Turkey top diplomats hold talks amid tensions
Family of Palestinian-American shot dead by Israeli settler demand accountability
- Relatives say Abu Siyam was among about 30 residents from the village of Mukhmas who confronted armed settlers attempting to steal goats from the community
LONDON: The family of a 19-year-old Palestinian-American man reportedly shot dead by an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank have demanded accountability, amid mounting scrutiny over a surge in settler violence and a lack of prosecutions.
Nasrallah Abu Siyam, a US citizen born in Philadelphia, was killed near the city of Ramallah on Wednesday, becoming at least the sixth American citizen to die in incidents involving Israeli settlers or soldiers in the territory in the past two years.
Relatives say Abu Siyam was among about 30 residents from the village of Mukhmas who confronted armed settlers attempting to steal goats from the community. Witnesses said that stones were thrown by both sides before settlers opened fire, wounding at least three villagers.
Abu Siyam was struck and later died of his injuries.
Abdulhamid Siyam, the victim’s cousin, said the killing reflected a wider pattern of impunity.
“A young man of 19 shot and killed in cold blood, and no responsibility,” he told the BBC. “Impunity completely.”
The US State Department said that it was aware of the death of a US citizen and was “carefully monitoring the situation,” while the Trump administration said that it stood ready to provide consular assistance.
The Israeli embassy in Washington said the incident was under review and that an operational inquiry “must be completed as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces said troops were deployed to the scene and used “riot dispersal means to restore order,” adding that no IDF gunfire was reported.
The military confirmed that the incident remained under review and said that a continued presence would be maintained in the area to prevent further unrest.
Palestinians and human rights organizations say such reviews rarely lead to criminal accountability, arguing that Israeli authorities routinely fail to prosecute settlers accused of violence.
A US embassy spokesperson later said that Washington “condemns this violence,” as international concern continues to grow over conditions in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians and human rights groups say Israeli authorities routinely fail to investigate or prosecute settlers accused of violence against civilians.
Those concerns were echoed this week by the UN, which warned that Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank may amount to ethnic cleansing.
A UN human rights office report on Thursday said that Israeli settlement expansion, settler attacks and military operations have increasingly displaced Palestinian communities, with dozens of villages reportedly emptied since the start of the Gaza war.
The report also criticized Israeli military tactics in the northern West Bank, saying that they resembled warfare and led to mass displacement, while noting abuses by Palestinian security forces, including the use of unnecessary lethal force and the intimidation of critics.
Neither Israel’s foreign ministry nor the Palestinian Authority has commented on the findings.
