“No red carpet for Islamist Erdogan”. The banner was one of the first things Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan encountered on his first visit to Germany since 2020. He is expected to return home the same evening he landed. At Bellevue Castle, Erdogan was met by his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. They shook hands, but neither of them smiled. The tense relationship between two NATO countries Israel’s warfare in Gaza casts shadows over the visit. In the meeting with Erdogan, Steinmeier is said to have pointed out Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, according to a spokesperson for the German president. The two parties have very different views on the war between Israel and Hamas. Erdogan has been a clear critic of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Friday is the first time the Turkish president is on an official state visit to Germany in 20 years. Photo: BPA / Reuters Earlier this week, Erdogan called Hamas a liberation organization. Erdogan has called the state of Israel “fascists”, a “terrorist state” and accused the country of being behind a genocide in Gaza. He has broken all contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and canceled a planned trip to the country. In the last week, both Erdogan and Prime Minister Olaf Scholz have had a public argument. Whether they solved it this Friday is unknown. Photo: LIESA JOHANNSSEN / Reuters Germany, Israel’s closest ally, did not take the statement lightly. Prime Minister Olaf Scholz called Erdogan’s statements “absurd”. He claims Israel complies with human rights and international law. German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz has for his part emphasized that the country has an eternal duty to stand up for the existence and security of the State of Israel after the Holocaust. Scholz himself was on a solidarity visit to Israel after the war broke out in October this year. Nevertheless, Scholz chose not to criticize Erdogan directly. The Prime Minister’s reticence has been interpreted as a sign of how important the German government thinks the Turkish visit is. Refugee flow and NATO As a result of the country’s location, Turkey has a central role in the EU’s refugee and migration policy. The flow of refugees is a central issue for Scholz’s coalition government. Earlier this week he met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with the aim of reducing the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Germany. President Erdogan has long wanted new fighter jets. It is expected that he will discuss the purchase of the Typhoon combat aircraft model with Scholz. Photo: Mindaugas Kulbis / AP It is also expected that President Erdogan wants to discuss the purchase of the Typhoon combat aircraft model in a meeting with Scholz. Germany is among the countries that produce the aircraft model, writes the Financial Times, and has the right to block sales. Germany has been clear that it wants Sweden in the defense alliance. The NATO issue will therefore probably also be a topic. The meeting takes place only a few days after Turkey’s National Assembly postponed the processing of Sweden’s NATO application. Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO countries that have not ratified the Swedes’ application, which will end the country’s 200 years of military alliance freedom. Old grudges It is not just the war in the Middle East that creates friction between the two countries. Back in 2016, several poems and satires abounded on German television making fun of Erdogan. This led to a diplomatic crisis between Berlin and Ankara. The German comedians claimed they wanted to test freedom of expression, but in 2017 parts of the satirical poem by Jan Böhmermann were banned.
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Erdogan met Scholz in Germany – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
