Berlin sent a message to Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the Turkish president’s visit to the German capital. “The position of the German government against Israel remains steadfast, and the chancellor will make it clear to the Turkish president,” said government spokesman Stephen Hebstreit, referring to Mr. Erdogan’s upcoming visit to Berlin on Friday.

“There are always difficult partners that we have to manage (…) Turkey is an important factor in many issues and it is important to move forward on these issues. Under the current circumstances, the visit will be a challenge,” noted Mr. Hebstreit, responding to questions about the positions expressed recently by the Turkish president, who called Hamas a “liberation organization” and accused Israel of “fascism “, due to the bombing of Gaza.

Tayyip Erdogan will have a working dinner on Friday night at the chancellery. It will have previously been accepted by the federal president Frank-Walter Steinmeier. According to the planning so far, there will be no joint statements to the press.

Ahead of the visit, Greens co-chair Ricarda Lang called on Chancellor Olaf Solz to speak in clear language to the Turkish president. It is important to maintain all diplomatic channels and remain in talks and to defend Israel’s interests and security, but at the same time “over the weekend we experienced abhorrent statements from (Tayyip) Erdogan towards Israel, as well as a downgrading of Hamas terrorism ,” Ms. Lang pointed out.