Germany waiting for details on citizen's arrest in Turkey

BERLIN – Germany's foreign ministry says it's waiting to learn why one of its nationals was arrested in Istanbul in the latest such incident to strain relations between the two countries.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr says consular officials are in touch with Adil Demirci's lawyer but haven't yet been able to speak to him directly.

The circumstances surrounding last week's arrest of Demirci, a dual German-Turkish citizen, were not immediately clear.

Adebahr told reporters on Wednesday that currently five Germans are being held in Turkey for political reasons, not counting Demirci.

Spiegel Online reported that Demirci is a social worker in Cologne who also writes for the left-wing Turkish ETHA news agency.

The year-long detention of German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, released in February, caused considerable friction between Berlin and Ankara.