Berlin has condemned the “absolutely unacceptable” the detention of Constantinople’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, referring to a “bad sign” and a “serious regression” for democracy in Turkey.

“We are watching the current developments in Turkey with great concern,” said government spokesman Stephen Hebetraite and called on Ankara to “clearly and transparently clearly” the case. Mr Hebbestrait also said that “in previous years it was possible to consolidate the European Union’s good relations with Turkey, and recent developments are a bad sign for democracy, but also for the further development of this relationship.”

Earlier, Christian Democratic Party (CDU) politician Serap Guler told the first channel of German public television ARD that German -Turkish relations were strained after Mr Imoglou’s arrest and advised the future federal government to leave the federal government. “Turkey is one of the countries that, when publicly scolded, are not prepared to change anything,” Ms Guiller said, referring to the “mistake” of the outgoing government, something that the government spokesman rejected.

On the part of the Foreign Ministry, Deputy Spokesman Christian Wagner left open the possibility of updating the travel directive on Turkey, especially after the arrests of journalists covering demonstrations in favor of Ekrem Imoglou.