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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Germany on Thursday for a visit aimed at reducing tensions between the two NATO allies at a time when Turkish economic turmoil is causing increasing concern and Europe needs support from Ankara to reduce the flow of migrants.
The trip is Erdogan's first official visit to Germany, home to more than 3 million people of Turkish descent. But the increasingly authoritarian leader is viewed with suspicion in the political ensemble in Germany, who has had difficult relations with Ankara in recent years.
Over the past year, Erdogan has called the main German parties "the enemies of Turkey" and accused German officials of acting like Nazis, urging Chancellor Angela Merkel to condemn the words of the Turkish president.
At the same time, both countries recognize their mutual strategic interests and both leaders seemed ready to bury the hatchet before the trip, which will continue until Saturday.
"Turkey is an important partner for us and it is also an important partner for Europe," Merkel spokeswoman Steffen Seibert said Wednesday.
"We have a fundamental interest … in an economically and politically stable Turkey, and of course in a Turkey where democracy is practiced," added Seibert. He said discussions with Erdogan would focus on "common interests" and difficult issues.
In an article published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on Thursday, Erdogan said it was time to "put aside our differences of opinion and focus on our common interests".
"Turkey's hope is to develop relations with Germany and other nations on an equal footing on the basis of mutual respect," he wrote.
Ms Merkel defended a 2016 agreement with Turkey aimed at stopping the flow of refugees and migrants to Europe, which has resisted the deterioration of relations between Ankara and the European Union. And Berlin sees Turkey as an important partner in an attempt to end the conflict in neighboring Syria.
But there have been a series of setbacks in bilateral relations. Among the irritants, a resolution of the German parliament of 2016 describing the murder of Armenians in Turkey at the beginning of the twentieth century of "genocide".
The Turkish authorities' attempts to rally the support of their citizens residing in Germany last year in a referendum on Erdogan's expansion of power provoked widespread irritation and several of their public demonstrations were canceled. incited the Nazi jibis to Erdogan.
The imprisonment of the Germans during mass arrests and dismissals by the Turkish authorities following a coup attempt in July 2016 was the most damaging. The German Foreign Ministry reports that 35 people have been jailed for political reasons in Berlin. While the most important – including two journalists – have been released, five remain in detention by the Turks.
In recent months, officials in both countries have sought to thaw relations – especially on the economic front, which has become urgent as Turkey faces a currency crisis heightened by tensions with the United States.
While Berlin has stated that the issue of German aid to Turkey "does not arise at present" and stressed the need for the independence of the Turkish bank, it has made it clear that it does not want
Erdogan landed in Berlin on Thursday but has the bulk of his public commitments Friday, when he will meet with Merkel and attend a state banquet hosted by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier – an event to which many politicians of the United States are going. German opposition refuse to attend.
Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz and Minister of Economy Peter Altmaier will be present. Before Erdogan's visit, they met last week in Berlin with Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who said he saw a "new era" in relations and said:
After a second meeting with Ms Merkel at a breakfast, Erdogan will conclude his visit to Cologne on Saturday, where he will officially open a new mosque built by a group linked to Turkey.
Demonstrations against the Turkish leader are expected in Berlin and Cologne, and Amnesty International has asked Merkel to use her talks with Erdogan to address the "dramatic human rights situation in Turkey".
"In such a situation, a state visit must be used to clearly defend all those imprisoned in an arbitrary and innocent manner," said the organization.
The Berlin police closed a large area around the Chancellery where Merkel was to meet Erdogan, including airspace and boat traffic on the Spree River.
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David Rising contributed to this report.
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