FM Çavuşoğlu, German counterpart Gabriel hold first phone call since release of Büyükada suspects

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel held a phone call on Friday, marking the first diplomatic contact after the release of a number of suspects, including a German national, were detained during a meeting on Büyükada Island off Istanbul in July.

The call was made on request of the German side, diplomatic sources said.

German national Peter Frank Steudtner was among the suspects detained on July 5 at a meeting in Büyükada of Istanbul's Princes' Islands over terror group membership and aiding charges.

The prosecutor had also charged the suspects with aiming to incite violent and chaotic mass public protests during main opposition Republican People's Party Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's a month-long "Justice" march kicked off on June 15.

Prior to his phone call with Gabriel, Çavuşoğlu also held calls with Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.