Turkey Friday ordered the release of a German-Turkish journalist held for more than a year without charge, which could remove a major hurdle to repairing ties between Ankara and Berlin. The German foreign ministry confirmed that Yücel was being released, declaring itself "relieved and happy". Yücel's Turkish lawyer tweeted that "finally a release ruling has been made concerning my client". However, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that the court-ordered release was "unconditional". Relations have recently started to recover from their deep crisis after Turkey released several German citizens.

Source: The Local February 16, 2018 10:36 UTC