Germany: 'Pursued' Turkish academics and journalists should be able to work in Germany - Steinmeier

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier declared that "pursued scientists, creative artists and journalists who cannot work anymore in Turkey" should be able to work in Germany, meaning they could get political asylum. He spoke at a debate in the German Bundestag, Berlin, Thursday.
"We want to create free spaces for the civil society in Turkey, we want to newly vitalize the Ernst-Reuter-Initiative inside the Goethe Institut, to advocate that it will open a space for civil society in Diarbakir, so in a real Kurdish region, and extend the model to also Izmir and Gaziantep," stated Steinmeier.
In his speech, he also queried whether "ongoing Turkish government's proceedings are consistent with the minimum proceeding standards of the rule of law".
Other parties in the Bundestag criticised Turkey, and Dietmar Bartsch, from Die Linke, went further. He claimed that Merkel 'de facto' supported Erdogan, because she visited him a few weeks prior to the Turkish elections. Bartsch claimed, "Angela Merkel went to Erdogan, just before the elections, which de facto means that she supported him, what else would it be? This is de facto an electoral support and you thus put human rights and democracy on the negotiating table."