ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday their hearts must be satisfied with the investigation in the German city of Ludwigshafen where nine Turks died in a fire in a building on February 3rd.
Speaking to reporters at Ankara's Esenboga International Airport prior to his departure for Germany, Erdogan indicated that "certain media groups in Germany are not happy to see Turkish officials at the site of the Ludwigshafen fire. Had an identical incident taken place in Turkey, we would have shown similar reactions. In the past, certain countries sent executives to Turkey after various incidents. At those times, Turkish officials worked closely with foreign authorities. What is important here is to satisfy our hearts. We are in Ludwigshafen with our own officials. We are in Ludwigshafen because those who died were our citizens."
"The brutal deaths of nine Turks make it mandatory for us to investigate the matter fully till the smallest detail. We are responsible to the Turkish public to investigate the incident. We have sent a delegation with our minister to Ludwigshafen. At that time, German interior minister was in Turkey and the German minister welcomed the idea of sending a Turkish delegation to Germany after the fire incident," Erdogan indicated.
"If the Ludwigshafen incident was a sabotage, as in the case of Solingen, the perpetrators must be punished," Erdogan also said.