Germany's government has defended state-funded broadcaster Deutsche Welle, after Turkish authorities confiscated video footage of its interview with the country's youth and sports minister.
Deutsche Welle said on September 6 that ministry employees seized the footage after a spokesman for the minister, Akif Kilic, said the international news outlet wouldn't be allowed to air the interview dealing with the failed July 15 coup and its aftermath.
Deutsche Welle Director-General Peter Limbourg called it "an act of the Turkish regime's coercion," adding that Turkey "no longer follows the rule of law and has nothing to do with democracy."
Limbourg said a minister can't agree to an interview and then try to stop it from being aired "just because he did not like the questions posed."
The broadcaster said Conflict Zone host Michel Friedman asked Kilic about the aborted coup and the mass layoffs and arrests that followed it. The interview also covered the position of women in Turkish society and the media situation in the country.
In addition, Kilic was asked to explain statements Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously made about these issues.