Germany's Maas in Turkey to tend to troubled Berlin-Ankara relationship
ANKARA (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas arrived in Turkey on Wednesday hoping to restore relations that have been in deep freeze since a post-coup crackdown in which Ankara imprisoned tens of thousands of people, including many German citizens.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu shakes hands with his German counterpart Heiko Maas during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Maas’s visit is the first in a flurry of meetings by top officials, which will culminate in a planned visit by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to Berlin later this year.
German officials are hoping to use the “window of opportunity” offered by Erdogan’s recent re-election to the Presidency and the country’s economic difficulties following the levying of U.S. sanctions to push for an improvement in the conditions of German citizens held there. Germany says seven are political prisoners and dozens of others have yet to be charged.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his German counterpart Heiko Maas attend a news conference in Ankara, Turkey September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Before leaving for the two-day trip, Maas told reporters at a Berlin airport that Turkey’s economic woes would be discussed during meetings with Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, but said offers of aid were not on the agenda.
“Of course we will get informed about the economic situation and what the Turkish government is doing to counteract it,” Maas said. “At the moment I don’t think this means we’re going talk about aid measures,” he added.
The strained ties between Ankara and Berlin are further complicated by the European Union’s reliance on Turkey to stem the flow of millions of Syrian war refugees whose mass arrival in Europe in 2015 upturned the continent’s politics.
Slideshow (7 Images)‘HELP PRISONERS’
Germany is also home to a three million-strong Turkish diaspora, the world’s largest, many of whom have dual citizenship. German officials believe they have little choice but to improve ties with Ankara, despite concerns over the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.
Despite this, critics of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government warned that Berlin should not compromise on human rights issues for the sake of a rapprochement.
“Maas and the government must work to help other political prisoners as well as the seven German hostages in Turkey,” said Greens lawmaker Cem Ozdemir, himself of Turkish ethnic background. “Their only crime was to be doing their job as journalists or opposition politicians.”
Tens of thousands were caught in the dragnet that followed the 2016 failed coup against Erdogan, when rogue air force officers bombed the country’s parliament. A visit to inspect the parliament building damaged in the coup was the first item on Maas’s itinerary.
Cavusoglu was due to accompany Maas to Istanbul on a German government jet later this evening, where Maas is due to meet with business leaders, a gesture meant by officials as a statement of confidence in the crisis-hit Turkish economy.
Reporting by Thomas Escritt and Michelle Martin; Editing by Peter Graff
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