ANKARA: Turkish-German relations are at a low point following months of discord. Issues include Berlin granting asylum to military officers with alleged ties to the outlawed Gulen movement, Turkey jailing journalists and rights activists with German citizenship, a ban on Turkish politicians campaigning in Germany before the constitutional referendum in April, and Turkish politicians’ statements comparing current European leaders to Nazis.
In reference to the crisis, Turkey’s pro-government newspaper Yeni Söz recently published the provocative headline: “Turkey can occupy Europe within three days.”
Recent media reports reveal that Berlin has warned that Turkey is unsafe for German investors.
About 6,800 German firms operate in Turkey, and Germany is Turkey’s largest trading partner. Ethnic Turks constitute Germany’s largest minority.
“There’s no risk or threat. Although we underline this in the strongest way possible, the German government is trying to turn this into a crisis because of the forthcoming elections in September and some other reasons,” Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on July 31. “We hope they renounce this manner. We pursue a more rational… stance.”
Last week, rumors that Turkey asked Interpol for information on German companies suspected of having economic ties with Turkish companies linked to the Gulen movement further deteriorated relations. Ankara said it withdrew the request.
“The comprehensive measures initiated by Germany, bilaterally and through the EU, should not be seen as an impulsive reaction,” Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara director of the German Marshall Fund of the US, told Arab News.
Both Turkey and Germany have real concerns over the bilateral relationship that need to be addressed without further delay, he said. “In these circumstances, questions such as who will lose more, or which country needs the other more, aren’t constructive,” he added.
“If there’s political willingness on both sides, the current challenges can be overcome so a relationship based on mutual respect and trust can be rebuilt.”
Some German politicians recently urged the EU to halt pre-accession assistance to Turkey of some €4.4 billion ($5.2 billion) for the period 2014-2020.
According to media reports, Berlin also asked the European Commission to suspend talks with Ankara on customs union modernization.
In addition, Berlin recently transferred its reconnaissance and refueling aircraft from Incirlik air base in Turkey to Jordan due to the bilateral tensions.
Dr. Magdalena Kirchner, Mercator-IPC fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center, said the crisis dates back to 2005 when German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a vocal critic of Turkey joining the EU as a full member, took office.
Skepticism over domestic political developments in Turkey has grown among the German public, especially since 2013, Kirchner added.
“The boost in cooperation and exchange in the context of the 2015 refugee crisis remained largely transactional, and did little to rebuild trust between estranged partners,” she told Arab News.
German public pressure has been building over Berlin’s inability to gain satisfactory concessions from Ankara regarding detained German citizens or MPs’ visiting rights to troops stationed in Turkey, even after consultations at the highest levels of government, she added.
In late July, Berlin formulated two demands regarding several German citizens detained and accused of political crimes in Turkey: “Release them, or at least provide unlimited consular access and swift and fair trials for them,” Kirchner explained.
German politicians’ frustration at repeatedly harsh Turkish rhetoric over the past two years has influenced bilateral relations, she added.
Unluhisarcikli said: “Germany clearly means business and won’t back up unless Turkey takes some steps on issues that concern Germany. But due to the level of economic integration between the two countries, some of those measures will also hurt German companies.”
Kirschner said it will be difficult for any German government to back down if relations with Ankara remain as they are.
Turkish-German relations: From bad to worse
Turkish-German relations: From bad to worse
Syrian refugee returns set to slow as donor support fades
- Some aid officials say Syria is one of the first crises to be hit by aid funding cuts because the end of the war means it no longer counts as an emergency, eligible for priority funding
GENEVA: More than 3 million Syrians have returned home since the collapse of Bashar Assad’s rule a year ago but a decline in global funding could deter others, the UN refugee agency said on Monday.
Some 1.2 million refugees in addition to 1.9 million internally displaced people have gone back home following the civil war that ended with Assad’s overthrow, but millions more are yet to return, according to UNHCR.
The agency said much more support was needed to ensure the trend continues.
“Syrians are ready to rebuild – the question is whether the world is ready to help them do it,” said UNHCR head Filippo Grandi. Over 5 million refugees remain outside Syria’s borders, mostly in neighboring countries like Jordan and Lebanon.
RISK OF REVERSALS
Grandi told donors in Geneva last week that there was a risk that those Syrians who are returning might even reverse their course and come back to host states.
“Returns continue in fairly large numbers but unless we step up broader efforts, the risk of (reversals) is very real,” he said.
Overall, Syria’s $3.19 billion humanitarian response is 29 percent funded this year, according to UN data, at a time when donors like the United States and others are making major cuts to foreign aid across the board.
The World Health Organization sees a gap emerging as aid money drops off before national systems can take over.
As of last month, only 58 percent of hospitals were fully functional and some are suffering power outages, affecting cold-chain storage for vaccines.
“Returnees are coming back to areas where medicines, staff and infrastructure are limited – adding pressure to already thin services,” Christina Bethke, Acting WHO Representative in Syria, told reporters.
The slow pace of removing unexploded ordnance is also a major obstacle to recovery, said the aid group Humanity & Inclusion, which reported over 1,500 deaths and injuries in the last year. Such efforts are just 13 percent funded, it said.
Some aid officials say Syria is one of the first crises to be hit by aid funding cuts because the end of the war means it no longer counts as an emergency, eligible for priority funding.
Others may have held back as they wait to see if authorities under President Ahmed Al-Sharaa make good on promises of reform and accountability, including for massacres of the Alawite minority in March, they say.
