BERLIN (AP) — A German journalist who is on trial in Turkey on terror-related charges has returned to Germany after a Turkish court ruled that she could leave the country.

German news agency dpa reported that Mesale Tolu landed in Stuttgart on Sunday. Earlier Sunday, Tolu tweeted a photograph of herself and her young son at a Turkish airport with the words "going home after 17 months."

Tolu has been charged with engaging in terrorist propaganda and being a member of a banned left-wing group, the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party. She rejects the accusations.

She was released from prison in December while the trial continued, but a court only recently lifted an exit ban. When the court's move became public, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called it "a step toward improving our relations with Turkey."