Turkey’s Arrest of German Activist Heightens Nations’ Tensions<br />Mr. Gabriel said he could not advise firms to invest in a country where "even completely innocent companies are judged as being close to terrorists." He added: "I can’t see how we as the German government can continue to guarantee corporate investments<br />in Turkey if there is the threat of arbitrary expropriation for political reasons." Germany was Turkey’s top export destination in 2016, having bought $14 billion worth of Turkish goods, according to the International Monetary Fund.<br />Last month, Germany said it would withdraw its forces from a military base in southern Turkey after Mr. Erdogan’s government refused<br />to guarantee visits to forces there by German lawmakers, which lawmakers are required to do under the German Constitution.<br />On Wednesday, the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported<br />that Turkish authorities had handed Berlin a list of 68 German companies they accused of having links to Mr. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.<br />In Turkey, ministers lashed back, with Mr. Cavusoglu accusing Germany of maintaining an "unacceptable, one-sided attitude." Hours after Mr. Gabriel made his statement, prosecutors<br />in the western city of Celle said they had arrested a Turkish man on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization and working as a regional leader for the P.K.K.<br />Michael Werz, a specialist on Turkey and trans-Atlantic relations at the Center for American Progress, a Washington policy research firm, said he feared<br />that relations had "reached a point of no return." He said the travel warnings by Mr. Gabriel — who is generally viewed as favoring a softer stance toward Turkey — could "hurt the battered tourism section even more." Follow Melissa Eddy on Twitter @meddynyt.
