Amid strained relations between Turkey and the EU, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu rebuffed Michael Roth, the German state minister, for "openly telling Turkey's enemies that they have a safe haven in Germany."

Çavuşoğlu called Germany "the biggest supporter of the PKK," saying: "It is not a coincidence that all terrorists choose Germany. Germany has not extradited even one terrorist, even though we have requested more than 4,000."

Roth recently said that Germany may offer a safe haven to all opposing views in Turkey, saying that the German government is in cooperation with them.

Germany, known for its widespread tolerance and attitude of support towards terror suspects from multiple terrorist organizations, is raising ire among Turks because of its actions. Germany has allowed PKK terrorist propaganda to be spread by supporters of the terrorist organization, allowing rallies to be held freely and even providing a video link address to a senior leader of the group. Despite the PKK being an internationally recognized terrorist organization, in 2011 Germany allowed PKK terrorist leader Murat Karayılan to speak at the 19th Kurdish Cultural Festival in Köln. In contrast, the country did not allow President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to speak at an anti-coup rally in Cologne via video call in early August. Nowadays, Germany also faces criticism for its refusal to pursue FETÖ members whose sympathizers freely operate in the country, operating schools and large companies despite several of the prominent Gülenist figures residing in Germany who are wanted in Turkey.

On the issue, Turkish President Erdoğan said last Thursday terrorism is "like a boomerang" that would eventually turn and strike Germany. "You will be remembered as the supporters of terrorism. We are worried that Germany, which harbored terrorist groups like the PKK and the DHKP-C [a far-left terrorist group that carried out a string of attacks in Turkey in recent years], is now turning into FETÖ's backyard," he said.