"Our religious officials are not engaged in illegal activity. With the aim of maintaining mutual trust, six religious officials suspected of excesses in carrying out their responsibilities were returned to Turkey even though they did not carry out any intelligence-gathering or espionage activity," Germez said.
The case was negatively felt by not only three million religious German residents of Turkish decent, but also five million Muslims living in Germany, he added.
"People, bearing political and social responsibility, should refrain from ill-judged and unfair allegations," Germez noted.
The raids, conducted by the police, have the potential to deteriorate the already tense relations between Turkey and Germany caused by the crisis surrounding the EU-Turkey migration deal.
Under this agreement, Turkey is to deter refugees from entering Europe through Turkish borders in exchange for financial aid and relaxing visa requirements for Turkish citizens. However, Turkey now also demands that Germany extradite the fugitive Turkish military officers, suspected of the coup attempt who reside within German borders.
