Saturday, October 16, 2021
“16 years wasn’t enough”
Merkel regrets unresolved conflicts with Erdogan
It should be Merkel’s last trip to Turkey as Federal Chancellor. In an interview with President Erdogan, she stressed the importance of good relationships and recognized Turkey’s role in caring for refugees. Once again, however, differences become clear.
During her farewell visit to Turkey, Chancellor Angela Merkel pointed out numerous unresolved conflicts in German-Turkish relations – from the subject of human rights to migration to German citizens in Turkish custody. “We still have a lot of difficulties to overcome here,” said the outgoing Prime Minister after speaking with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “16 years were not enough for that.”
Regarding the situation of German citizens imprisoned in Turkey, Merkel said: “We sometimes have very different views as to when the terrorism charge applies”. While the federal government was able to intervene successfully in some cases, new cases have always been added.
Some of the German citizens incarcerated in Turkey are in custody for supporting Kurdish movements, which Turkey classifies as “terrorist”. According to the Federal Foreign Office, the number of German prisoners in Turkey is in the “middle double-digit range”.
Another central topic in the talks between Erdogan and Merkel was the EU’s refugee agreement with Turkey from 2016. The Chancellor emphasized that Turkey still needs support in caring for Syrian refugees. Turkey is on one of the main transit routes for refugees to Europe. In the 2016 agreement, Ankara promised, among other things, to take action against gangs of smugglers who bring refugees to Greece. In return, the EU has supported Turkey with billions in the past few years.
“Turkey does something extraordinary”
It is likely Merkel’s last visit to Turkey as incumbent Chancellor after 16 years. Merkel stressed that Turkey’s support on the refugee issue must be guaranteed “beyond what has already been decided”. Erdogan said Turkey is “hosting” refugees. “And that will remain so.”
“Turkey is doing extraordinary things with regard to Syrian refugees,” said Merkel, who repeatedly emphasized the efforts to establish good relations between Germany and Turkey. The Chancellor regretted that, despite the leadership of the United Nations, things were not going well in Syria and that the situation in Idlib was still “very tense”.
Both heads of state and government also spoke about Libya at their meeting on Saturday. Merkel campaigned for an early election in the North African country and for a “sustainable solution”.
At the meeting, Merkel also called on the Turkish president to cooperate with the radical Islamic Taliban in Afghanistan in order to prevent another refugee crisis. The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in August after a campaign of conquest. Turkey – the only Muslim NATO country – is trying to get in touch with the new rulers and is negotiating with the Taliban to secure civilian operations at Kabul airport.
At the meeting with Merkel, Erdogan criticized racist and Islamophobic attacks on people of Turkish origin in Germany. The Chancellor promised that the German government would continue to act “very decisively” against all incidents of “misanthropy”.
Erdogan also said he hoped to be able to work well with the future federal government. Chancellor Merkel has always taken a “sensible and solution-oriented approach,” he said. “I wish the new government and its Chancellor every success.” The leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP presented a joint paper on Friday on the outcome of their exploratory talks and called for coalition negotiations.