A Turkish court has ruled that a German journalist facing trial on terrorism-related charges is free to leave the country, a move that could help improve relations between two countries with deep ties.The journalist, Mesale Tolu, a German of Turkish ancestry who was working in Istanbul, was arrested in April 2017 on charges of spreading propaganda for terrorist organizations. She was held in pretrial detention until December, when she was released but ordered to remain in the country.

Tolu said that she has got the permission to travel. Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, welcomed the decision, calling it “a step toward improving our relations with Turkey.” But he insisted that further steps must follow, pointing to at least seven other German citizens who are jailed in Turkey for what Berlin considers political reasons.

 Tolu reminded her supporters that the court’s decision to allow her to leave the country would have no effect on the trial against her and other journalists, including her husband. The trial is scheduled to continue on Oct. 16. Her release, long sought by Germany, renewed hopes that Andrew Brunson, an American pastor currently under house arrest on espionage charges, could soon be set free.

 Brunson and  Kilic were among the 11 rights activists detained in a flurry of arrests after a failed coup against  Erdogan’s government in 2016. They all faced charges of aiding terrorist groups, in particular the movement led by Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in exile in the United States whom Ankara accuses of initiating the coup attempt. The United States has repeatedly refused Turkey’s requests to extradite  Gulen.

But even as journalists and activists who Germany maintained were being held on politically motivated charges were being released, authorities handed stiff sentences to others. After one Turkish court ordered the release of a German-Turkish journalist, Deniz Yucel, in February, another court sentenced six Turkish journalists to life in prison for undermining the constitutional order.