Turkey denies reported deportation deal with Germany

The Turkish government has denied that there is an agreement with Germany to deport several hundred people from Germany to Turkey, reported dpa.

"The news reports in the German media about the return of our citizens, who have no right to legal residence in Germany, to Turkey is not true," Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Öncü Keçeli wrote on social media platform X late Friday.

On Friday, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Germany began deporting several hundred people to Turkey following a deal with the Turkish government.

Initially, a total of 200 people were to be brought to Turkey on several scheduled flights, the report claimed.

"No such practice regarding mass deportation of our citizens was authorized," Keçeli added.

The issue was not on the agenda of a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in New York on September 23 as claimed, the spokesman went on to say.

The Turkish directorate for countering disinformation separately denied the reports on X late Friday.

"The claim on German media that 'Germany and Turkey have reached an agreement. Every week 500 Turks who have no right to legal residence in Germany are to be sent to Turkey on private charters' is not true," wrote the directorate.

"Do not rely on unfounded allegations," added the directorate which operates under Erdoğan’s communication office.