German president calls for revival of relations with Turkey

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for German-Turkish relations, which have been simmering on the back burner for some time, to be revitalized.

"These are serious times. And that is precisely why we need each other," he said at a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Wednesday.

"That is why we should give new importance to German-Turkish relations.

"We need each other," the German president said.

This applies to NATO and the G20 group of states, for example.
Steinmeier made it clear that he and Erdoğan had spoken openly about the differences in their assessment of the Middle East war since the attack on Israel by the terrorist Hamas on October 7.

"In my opinion, without October 7, the war in the Middle East would not exist."

Above all, the two reaffirmed common goals, Steinmeier said. "We want to and must improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. We want to and must prevent the war from becoming a conflagration in the region. Turkey also has a very important role to play here."

The two also agreed that without a credible long-term strategy for the Palestinians, there will be no peace and no lasting security for Israel in the medium and long term. "This is another thing that unites us: in the end, this political perspective can only lie in the two-state solution."

Erdoğan welcomed his guest from Germany in the early afternoon with military honours including gun salutes. The subsequent one-to-one talks lasted considerably longer than expected. Originally, 30 minutes had been planned - in the end, the two presidents spoke for an hour and 45 minutes.