ISTANBUL: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits Turkiye on Saturday for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the escalating Middle East crisis and migration, while Ankara hopes to speed up the purchase of Eurofighter jets.
Scholz, who last visited in March 2022 a few months after taking office, will meet President Erdogan in Istanbul.
Last week, German officials said the Ukraine war, the Middle East conflict, and migration would be the main focus of the visit.
Turkiye’s relations with Germany — home to Europe’s largest Turkish diaspora of some 3 million people — are sensitive and Berlin has voiced concerns over the state of human rights and democracy under Erdogan.
The outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has further strained ties.
FASTFACT
Turkiye’s relations with Germany — home to Europe’s largest Turkish diaspora of some 3 million people — are sensitive.
Erdogan has long been a fierce critic of Israel’s year-long military campaign in Gaza and its recent deadly push into Lebanon, comparing Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
But Berlin is a strong supporter of Israel and has defended its right to self-defense, while increasingly calling for restraint.
When Erdogan visited Germany last year, he traded barbs with Scholz over the conflict.
“The first, second, and third item on Scholz’s agenda is likely to be refugee cooperation as anti-refugee sentiment is rising throughout Europe,” said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli of the German Marshall Fund, a US think tank.
Scholz’s government has been under heightened pressure over the issue after a series of violent crimes and extremist attacks committed by asylum seekers.
Last month, Berlin said it had agreed on a plan with Ankara to step up its deportations of Turkish failed asylum seekers — only for Turkiye to deny any such deal had been struck swiftly.
Even so, immigration was likely a topic where both states “will be on the same page,” said Deniz Sert, an international relations professor at Istanbul’s Ozyegin University.
“Both will argue they have the right and obligation to protect order within their borders and that irregular migrants are the threat,” she said.
Turkiye will also expect progress on its plans to buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoons, notably in the wake of America’s delayed delivery of F-16 warplanes greenlit earlier this year.
Last year, Ankara said it was keen to acquire Eurofighter jets built by a four-nation consortium, including Germany.
However, talks have been slow, mainly because of Berlin’s opposition to Turkiye’s stance on the Gaza conflict.
Any consortium member, including Britain, Italy, and Spain, can veto a deal.
“The biggest obstacle to the sale of the jets is Germany’s Israel policy,” a Turkish source said.
However, things have progressed in recent months, with the source pointing to “positive developments,” although an agreement was not imminent on Saturday.
“Ankara expects Berlin to suspend its restrictions on defense sales and greenlight Eurofighter sales to Turkiye,” Unluhisarcikli said.
Ozgur Eksi, editor-in-chief for the TurDef.com defense news website, said Berlin was initially concerned Turkiye could use the jets against outlawed Kurdish militants in the southeast or in Syria.
“Do the same concerns remain in place? Yes, but other issues, including security, have gained weight, especially after Turkiye lifted its veto on Sweden’s NATO membership,” he said.
With Russia’s war in Ukraine, there are concerns in the West about the consequences of Turkiye getting closer to Moscow, which Berlin is keen to avoid, Eksi said.
Turkiye has sought balance in its ties with Russia and Ukraine since the outbreak of the Kremlin’s invasion, sending drones to Kyiv but also pulling away from Western-led sanctions on Moscow.
