The German chancellor announced Monday that he had invited re-elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Berlin in a telephone conversation, with the aim of giving "new impetus" to cooperation between the two countries. Germany and Turkey, both NATO members, want to "approach cooperation between the two governments with new momentum" and "agree on common priorities at an early stage," Scholz's spokesman said in a statement.
To this end, President Erdogan was "invited to go to Berlin for an inaugural visit," he added, without specifying a date. Among other things, the two leaders "want to work together on the good development in the Eastern Mediterranean, on the decisions being taken within NATO and on Turkey's relations with the European Union," the German spokesman added.
Initiatives to "strengthen bilateral relations"
For its part, the Turkish presidency said that Recep Tayyip Erdogan had pleaded for "initiatives to be taken to strengthen bilateral relations", which have been undermined in recent years. Berlin has repeatedly accused Turkey of breaches of the rules of the rule of law, condemning the imprisonment of opponents of the government in particular.
Regarding the Atlantic Alliance, NATO partners are particularly anxiously waiting for Ankara to approve Sweden's blocked bid to join the US-led defence alliance. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is blocking this candidacy by accusing Stockholm of sheltering Turkish opposition figures with alleged links to banned Kurdish activists.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who won 52.2% of the vote according to an almost final count, was re-elected for a new 5-year term. It was celebrated all night by his supporters in Turkey, but also in Germany, where there is a large Turkish community. In this country he won 67% of the vote in the college of around 1.5 million Turks from Germany called to vote.
This drew sharp criticism from German Green Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, who attacked the voting behaviour of Turks in Germany. "I am interested in what is happening in Germany, where #Erdogan supporters celebrate without having to answer for the consequences of their choice," unlike many Turks in their country who have to face "poverty and lack of freedom," tweeted Sunday night the minister of Turkish origin.
