MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel on Friday held their first conversation since the general elections in Germany, Turkish media reported, citing diplomatic sources.
On Sunday, the Bundestag election was held in Germany. Following the vote, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called on German authorities to abandon the pre-election statements that had often targeted Turkey and to focus on the restoration of ties between Ankara and Berlin.
The Daily Sabah newspaper reported about the fact of the talks, however, without providing any details of the Cavusoglu-Gabriel conversation.
According to the provisional results of the vote, the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) alliance scored 33 percent of votes, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) received 20.5 percent, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured 12.6 percent, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) got 10.7 percent, the Left Party was supported by 9.2 percent and the Greens scored 8.9 percent.
In recent months, relations between Berlin and Ankara have become increasingly strained over Germany's criticism of mass detentions in Turkey, Ankara's accusations that Berlin provided asylum for people reportedly involved in the 2016 coup attempt, as well as because of the cancellation of campaign rallies organized by the Turkish authorities across Germany ahead of the referendum that granted the Turkish president more executive powers.
