ISTANBUL, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Friday set free German correspondent Deniz Yucel, removing an irritant in its ties with Germany.

Yucel, with German newspaper Die Welt, was released from a prison in Istanbul following one-year detention on charges of spreading propaganda in support of a terror group and inciting the public to violence, Turkish media reported.

At a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Berlin a day earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced hope for a fast judicial process for Yucel.

Yildirim said he hoped the case would soon come to court.

The case of Yucel is among an array of issues that have hurt the Turkey-Germany ties in recent years.