Updated

Ahead of her visit to Turkey, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says "some developments in Turkey fill us with big worries."

The chancellor expressed concern over the Kurdish conflict in an interview with weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on Sunday saying "we want that the Kurdish people have an equal place and a good future in Turkey."

Merkel left for Turkey on Sunday afternoon to attend the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul and also meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Several high-ranking German lawmakers called on Merkel to be outspoken during her trip and express concern about what the speaker of Germany's Parliament, Norbert Lammert, has called Erdogan's "autocratic ambitions" including his push to push to strip legislators in Turkey of their immunity from prosecution.