Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Germany of trying to scare off investors from his country after Berlin toughened its stance toward Ankara following the arrest of activists including a German national.
“I strongly condemn the German economy minister’s baseless [...] message aimed at frightening companies investing in my country,” Erdoğan said in Istanbul. "I want to remind our German friends and the world that you are not powerful enough to blacken Turkey. You are not powerful enough to scare us," he added.
Erdoğan also said that Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency and the Interior Ministry had told him there was no investigation against German companies operating in Turkey.
On Thursday, Germany's economy minister, Brigitte Zypries, said that if German companies "suddenly show up on 'black lists' and are branded as terror supporters, then that is a climate that makes further business and investments in Turkey extremely difficult."
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Thursday also warned German firms against investment in Turkey and spoke of an "overhaul" of the entire relationship.
