Turkey eases row with Germany over economic concerns

ANKARA - Turkey is tuning down its row with Germany following the latter's warning about risks of investing in the country and an "overhaul" of their relationship amid a political row.

Turkey immediately stepped up to reassure German investors that its investment environment for foreign investors is reliable and this policy will continue in the future.

Investments by German firms in Turkey are safe and their businesses would not be affected by political tension between Ankara and Berlin, German weekly magazine Der Spiegel quoted Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek as saying on July 29.

"I can assure the business community that Turkey remains an open, liberal and investment-friendly country," Simsek said.

The minister's statement was the latest of attempts made by the Turkish government to stem the economic fall-out after Berlin threatened to slow down investment in Turkey, whose economy is dependent on foreign capital.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim last week also met with German business executives, underlining that Ankara would not allow tension between the two governments to harm the companies' interests in Turkey.

"It is very important to us that you are not a part of this tension and do not suffer any damage from the events," Yildirim said on Thursday.

Turkey's Economy minister Nihat Zeybekci also joined the chorus to try to calm down the storm with Germany.

"The Turkey-Germany crisis is temporary. One must refrain from words that would cause lasting harm to the economies. Germany must reassess comments that are inappropriate." Zeybekci said on Friday, adding that the German-Turkish relations will pass this stress test.

Amid a growing diplomatic row with Turkey, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel threatened to slap sanctions on Turkey, after the arrest of human rights activists on July 5 including a German citizen, Peter Steudtner, who is a representative of Amnesty International.

The incident further added to the tensions caused by the detention in February of Deniz Yucel, a German-Turkish dual-nationality reporter for the newspaper Die Welt, and by the Turkey's refusal to allow a group of German lawmakers to visit a NATO base in Turkey.