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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan travels to Germany on a rare official visit with a busy agenda, ranging from the situation in Syria to the arrest of German citizens and the currency crisis in the country's candidate country. European Union.
Berlin and Ankara, who have disagreed over a variety of issues for years, have recently softened their rhetoric, signaling a new phase in relations.
Erdogan said his country seeks to improve political and economic relations with Germany during its three-day visit starting Thursday.
"Our priority [in my visit] will be completely behind the period experienced in recent years in our political relations, "he said Sunday.
"In addition, these are the measures that can be taken to strengthen our economic ties on a mutually beneficial basis."
Erdogan will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Frank Walter Steinmeier during his visit.
Diplomatic shower
Diplomatic traffic between Berlin and Ankara has already been busy in September.
Earlier this month, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas met with his counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Turkey, expressing the wish for closer cooperation.
Last week, Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, Turkish Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Sonmez met with Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and the Minister of Finance Economy and Energy Peter Altmaier.
Mensur Akgun, a professor of international relations and columnist, said the two countries sought to focus on mutual strategic interests such as Syria and economic ties, rather than their differences.
"Relations between the two countries are complex and involve many different aspects, ranging from refugee status to entangled economic ties and the millions of Turks living in Germany," he told Al Jazeera.
"The Turkish government understands that Turkey will not be a member state of the EU in the near future and seeks to put relations with the bloc on a more realistic platform." This visit will help to achieve this goal. problems, "added Akgun.
Post-coup repression
Tensions between the two countries come mainly from the purges and arrests of hundreds of thousands of people in Turkey after a coup attempt in July 2016 that killed more than 300 people, including the conspirators. German journalists and activists were among those arrested.
Berlin has described the crackdown as arbitrary, while Ankara denies its political influence on the judicial system.
Germany, which has the largest Turkish diaspora in the world, banned gatherings of foreign politicians and their supporters before the 2017 constitutional referendum in Turkey and the June 24 presidential and parliamentary elections. , followed Germany. The decision exasperated the Turkish authorities.
Turkey and Germany have many reasons to work together. Besides the fact that over three million people of Turkish origin live in the country, the EU's industrial powerhouse is Turkey's main economic and trading partner with a bilateral trade of 37.6 billion euros. Euros ($ 43.6 billion).
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Turkey's currency crisis is also high on the agenda of Erdogan's visit. The value of the lira has fallen since the beginning of the year, losing more than 40% against the US dollar in a macroeconomic context and a diplomatic confrontation between Washington and Ankara.
NATO allies increased tariffs one after the other in August after Turkish justice refused to release an American pastor imprisoned on charges of "terrorism". Ankara accused Washington of conducting an "economic war" against Turkey and said its courts were independent.
Meanwhile, rumors of German financial aid to Turkey in August have been denied by German officials.
"Turkey is not seeking economic aid, neither in our discussions today, nor in the discussions that the President and Chancellor will hold," said Finance Minister Scholz, after met his counterpart Albayrak.
Another problem that complicates relations concerns the three million Syrian refugees that Turkey hosts, which prevents them from traveling to Western Europe. A massive flow of refugees to Europe in 2015 created a massive humanitarian crisis and contributed to the rise of far-right politics on the continent.
Ankara also wants the EU to allow Turkish citizens to visit the Schengen area without a visa and asks for support from Germany on this issue.
"Germany needs a stable Turkey"
Can Baydarol, an analyst of relations between the EU and Turkey, said that it was not in Germany's or EU's interest to dispose of from an unstable Turkey to the border of Europe.
"Turkey's instability would affect the EU both politically and economically.Germany is protecting itself by repairing links with Turkey.A banking crisis in Turkey will hit European banks and more than 6,500 German companies established in the country is also a priority of Germany, "Baydarol said.
"In addition, Ankara is drifting from the West to Russia and Germany is not, so if Russia and Turkey become true strategic partners, this could create a weak point in the defense of the EU", did he declare.
Ankara signed an agreement last year to buy advanced S-400 missile defense systems in Moscow despite the objections of its Western allies. Russia is also building a nuclear power plant in Turkey.
In addition, Russia and Iran, which support the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Turkey, which supports moderate opposition, cooperated closely to find a solution to the Syrian conflict.
Their cooperation recently ended a Syrian government offensive against Idlib province held by the rebels and averted a potential humanitarian disaster involving hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Follow Umut Uras on Twitter: @Um_Uras
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