At a meeting with his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said that no probes into German companies operating in Turkey have been launched.
The Turkish and German interior ministers held a 40-minute meeting yesterday regarding allegations that Turkey has launched investigations into German companies that carry out business in Turkey.
"As President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has underscored on a number of occasions, Turkey has not commenced probes into any German companies operating in the country, which was communicated by Minister Soylu to his German counterpart," an Interior Ministry statement said, emphasizing that Soylu expressed Turkey's pleasure with German companies investing in Turkey.
"As part of the investigation Turkey is conducting into 140 Turkish companies due to their affiliation with the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), standard intelligence requests were submitted to the countries to which these FETÖ-affiliated companies export goods through Interpol," the statement added, confirming a miscommunication with regard to the request submitted to Germany. It also pointed out the existence of an intergovernmental mechanism that operates in a routine manner by Interpol liaison officers through whom miscommunication is fixed.
Moreover, Soylu weighed the issue in close collaboration with Maiziere and decided to share the outcome with the Turkish and German public, agreeing to preserve communication.
Government spokesman Bekir Bozdağ also drew attentionat a press conference following the Cabinet meeting to the increasing number of foreign investors in Turkey over the last 15 years during Justice and Development Party (AK Party) rule . He highlighted the government's encouragement for foreign direct investments, which has been called into discussion with the recent statements by the German economy and foreign ministers. Referring to Interior Minister Soylu's meeting with his German counterpart, Bozdağ declined the allegations of targeting German companies in Turkey and underscored that Turkey has been a safe haven for foreign direct investment and will continue to preserve this capacity.
