Wolfgang Schäuble. Photo: DPAIn an escalating war of words between Ankara and Berlin, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble compared Erdogan's Turkey with the former communist German Democratic Republic (GDR). "Turkey is arresting people arbitrarily and not respecting even minimal consular standards," said Schäuble on Friday. Relations between Turkey and Germany, home to three million ethnic Turks, have been badly strained, particularly since a failed coup a year ago against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Meanwhile Bild reported on Friday that Germany is also "freezing all planned and ongoing arms deliveries to Turkey."

Source: The Local July 21, 2017 10:30 UTC