Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on a short and tense go to to Germany amid deep variations between the 2 NATO allies over the war in Gaza.
Erdogan has known as Israel a “terror state” and pointed to its Western allies, together with Germany, for supporting the army’s “massacres” in Gaza.
On Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz underlined Israel’s right to defend itself.
“Our solidarity with Israel is not up for discussion,” he stated at a joint information convention with Erdogan.
“We don’t owe anything to Israel, so we can speak freely,” Erdogan stated, referring to Germany’s duties within the Holocaust and the way Berlin can affect its relationship with Israel. “If we were in debt, we could not talk so freely. But those who are in debt cannot talk freely,” he stated.
The Turkish chief additionally lashed out at Israel over its relentless air and ground offensive in Gaza, saying that assaults on youngsters and hospitals had no place within the Jewish holy guide.
“Shooting hospitals or killing children does not exist in the Torah, you can’t do it,” Erdogan informed reporters.
Ismail Thawabta, the director normal of the federal government media workplace in Gaza, informed reporters on Friday that the entire variety of Palestinians killed because the conflict broke out on October 7 has exceeded 12,000, together with 5,000 youngsters.
Frosty begin
This was Erdogan’s first go to to Germany since 2020, when he attended a convention on Libya in Berlin.
Earlier than the go to, the Turkish chief stepped up his condemnation of the Israeli assault on the besieged Gaza Strip, saying it had “unlimited support” from the West.
He had beforehand known as for Israeli leaders to be tried for conflict crimes on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice in The Hague and repeated his view – and Turkey’s longstanding place – that Hamas shouldn’t be a “terrorist organisation” however a political get together that gained the final Palestinian legislative elections held in 2006.
Since October 7, when Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel killing around 1,200 people, and prompting the Israeli authorities to retaliate with a devastating air and floor assault on Gaza, the Turkish president has hardened his criticism of Israel.
After the Hamas assault, Scholz travelled to Israel to supply Germany’s assist.
This month, Germany introduced a complete ban of Hamas actions, in addition to these of the German department of Samidoun, generally known as the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Community, claiming it “supports and glorifies” teams together with Hamas.
“In our country, anti-Semitism is not permitted in any way,” stated Scholz on the information convention.
“I would like to emphasise there are five million Muslims living in Germany and they have a place here,” he added.
Erdogan rebuked strategies that his assaults on Israel had anti-Semitic undertones.
“For us, there should be no discrimination between Jews, Christians and Muslims in the region. I have fought against anti-Semitism. I am a leader who is leading this fight,” he stated.
German authorities have prohibited many pro-Palestinian demonstrations in what they stated are efforts to forestall public anti-Semitism and curb dysfunction.
Uncomfortable companions
The 2 nations have all the time been, as characterised by Scholz’s spokesman, “uncomfortable partners”.
Berlin has been a loud critic of Erdogan’s clampdown on home dissent whereas recognising that getting regional energy Turkey onside was essential to deal with thorny points.
Regardless of their variations, financial cooperation between the 2 nations has continued, with bilateral commerce reaching a report 51.6 billion euros ($56.2bn) in 2022.
Germany is house to the most important Turkish diaspora overseas. A majority of the Turkish neighborhood of three million are supporters of Erdogan.
Erdogan’s stance sparked questions in Germany in regards to the knowledge of internet hosting the Turkish chief at the moment, with the opposition conservatives and even the liberal Free Democratic Occasion (FDP), a member of Scholz’s coalition, urging the chancellor to scrap the invitation.
Whereas a lot of the information convention was dominated by the Israel-Hamas battle, the 2 leaders additionally spoke in regards to the Russia-Ukraine grain deal, which Turkey helped dealer earlier than Russia withdrew from it.
They have been set to aim to search out frequent floor on a migration pact struck in 2016 between the European Union and Turkey to stem arrivals in Europe.
Erdogan linked persevering with discussions on that deal, which some European nations wish to revive and amend, to Turkey’s EU accession course of, which was been on ice.
He additionally hoped to win Scholz’s backing to revive talks on modernising Turkey’s customs union with the EU, and liberalise visas for Turkish residents forward of upcoming municipal elections the place he hopes to win again the nation’s largest cities together with its capital Ankara and Istanbul.
Turkey has wished to purchase 40 Eurofighter Hurricane jets, which, in response to Turkey’s Ministry of Defence, co-manufacturer Germany has opposed.
