Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday accused Germany of "aiding and harbouring terror" and claimed a journalist who was detained this week on terror-related charges was a German agent.

"They need to be put on trial for aiding and harboring terror," Erdogan said, criticising German authorities who had allowed outlawed Kurdish leaders to speak yet had blocked rallies where Turkish ministers sought to address the Turkish community. 

The president, speaking in Istanbul, also claimed Deniz Yucel, a correspondent for Germany's Die Welt newspaper who was detained on Monday, was a "German agent."