Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is putting at risk his country's centuries-old ties to Germany, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.
"He is jeopardizing the centuries-old partnership," Schaeuble told German daily Bild in an interview publish in its Monday edition.
"It is dramatic, as there is really a lot that connects us. But we can't allow ourselves to be blackmailed," Reuters cited him as saying.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel announced on July 20 a wider shift in German-Turkish relations, His comments followed the arrest of Peter Steudtner, a human rights activist from Berlin whom Turkish authorities accuse of supporting a terrorist organization.
