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ISTANBUL: Angela Merkel’s closing go to to Turkey as German chancellor on Saturday noticed two of Europe’s longest serving leaders pay tribute to 1 one other as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted her for farewell talks overlooking the Bosporus.
Erdogan had been in workplace for greater than two years when Merkel got here to energy in 2005. Since then, they’ve constructed a relationship primarily based on pragmatism that has weathered a number of crises.
“I hope that our profitable work with Mrs. Merkel will proceed in the identical method below the brand new authorities,” Erdogan stated at an Istanbul information convention.
The leaders mentioned Turkey’s relations with Germany and the European Union, in addition to Syria, Libya and the japanese Mediterranean, the place Ankara’s pursuits have collided with Europe’s.
Nevertheless, Merkel has usually adopted a conciliatory strategy to Turkey, emphasizing the widespread pursuits of Turkey and the West.
After admitting tons of of hundreds of refugees to Germany in 2015, she careworn Turkey’s function in stopping a repeat of such large-scale migration to Europe and helped engineer a deal for Turkey to stem the move of individuals searching for to cross the Aegean Sea.
The subject of migration dominated the leaders’ feedback on Saturday. Merkel promised that EU help for Turkey, which hosts 4 million refugees, would proceed and stated the incoming administration in Berlin will worth ties with Turkey. Germany’s political events are holding talks on a brand new coalition authorities since an election in September, and Merkel is staying on in a caretaker function till that authorities is in place.
“We all the time have widespread pursuits, and that’s how the following federal authorities will see it,” she stated.
Erdogan thanked his visitor for her “optimistic contributions” in Turkey’s long-running bid for EU membership and her help for the three million-strong Turkish group in Germany.
Relations with Turkey proved one of many hardest areas for Merkel throughout her 16 years in workplace, particularly as Erdogan ramped up assaults on European leaders whereas overseeing rising authoritarianism at residence.
Ankara’s international coverage additionally noticed Merkel’s authorities again restricted EU sanctions on Turkey and restrictions on arms gross sales.
Germany has voiced considerations in regards to the affect of Turkish establishments inside its borders and banned Turkish politicians from campaigning in 2017, main Erdogan to check German officers to Nazis. There are considerations in Ankara that the following German authorities might be much less tolerant of such variations.
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