Europe

German FM to raise arrests of opposition lawmakers in Turkey

Associated Press
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German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, center, address the media prior to a meeting of the foreign committee of the German federal parliament in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) (The Associated Press)

German Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier giving a press statement on the attack on the German consulate in the Northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif in in Berlin, Germany, Friday Nov. 11, 2016. (Maurizio Gambarini/dpavia AP) (The Associated Press)

Officials say Germany's foreign minister will discuss the imprisonment of Turkish opposition figures during a trip to Ankara next week.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is scheduled to fly to Turkey late Monday.

The trip takes place immediately after a meeting of the European Union's top diplomats where the situation in Turkey will be discussed.

Steinmeier's spokesman Martin Schafer says the German foreign minister plans to meet Tuesday with Turkish government officials, opposition parties and members of civil society.

Schafer told reporters in Berlin on Friday that the exact agenda is still being determined, "but you can assume he'll be carrying the topic of the incarcerated HDP deputies in his briefcase."

Several lawmakers from Turkey's Peoples' Democratic Party, known as HDP, were arrested on terrorism-related charges last week.