The meeting Mertz and Erdogan in Ankara last week was not another German-Turkish official meeting. According to analyzes in the German press, it marks a new page in the already close German-Turkish relations, which are governed by a historical depth of 100 years and are multi-layered. They are now moving to another level of strategic deepening, because as Chancellor Mertz pointed out, the wider geopolitical environment and power relations have changed radically.

Mertz went to Ankara this time with an overall positive agenda for very specific goals: the green light on the sale of fighter jets Eurofighter in Turkey it is now a given, the German reservations have been lifted and from there on, Berlin’s intention to promote Turkey’s European perspective – initially at least its inclusion with some “model” in the European security architecture – is also declared. although no explicit references were made to the SAFE program or Greece’s objections.

Germany does not consider Turkey a ‘threat’

However, it is a fact that the highest political and diplomatic circles in Berlin do not seem to agree with the view of Turkey as a “threat” to Europe, emphasizing that it is a “NATO ally” in a crucial region. The perception of Turkey as a necessary and “harmless” ally for Central European data also creates difficulties in understanding the Greek positions on the “Turkish threat”.

For Germany, the biggest security threat at the moment comes almost indisputably from Moscow – one only has to talk to German officials for a little while to get the German sense of “existential threat” today.

Mild reference to the rule of law

From there, Chancellor Mertz’s invocation of the Copenhagen criteria on the rule of law at the press conference with the Turkish president was necessary and inevitable. However, as commented by German media, it was mild and only expressed after the fact, since an earlier agreement had already been reached on defense and security issues.

A change of tone from Berlin was also evident in relation to the human rights remarks of Friedrich Merz’s predecessor in the chancellorship, Olaf Scholz, as well as that of former Greens foreign secretary Analena Burbock – who had clashed openly with her counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu at a press conference in Ankara.

Geopolitics and migration flows

“In geopolitical times, where politics is conducted by great powers, Germany and Europe must build their own strategic partnerships,” Mertz said from Ankara. The road to new “military partnerships” inevitably passes through Turkey and that is why the German government is now trying to find a new way of living with the “difficult partner”, observes Rosalia Romanies, Director of Political Affairs and head of DW’s Political Bureau in Berlin, who was in Ankara as part of Mertz’s visit.

For the new German “realpolitik” itself, which leads to a new approach with Ankara, it also has a strong internal political connotation against the background of the more Austrian immigration policy of the new German government. Turkey controls some of the key migration flows to Europe, he notes. The Merz government wants at all costs to increase deportations from Germany and hopes that Turkey will respond – even with trade-offs.

In fact, as she points out, although not much information has been made known about how the two countries will move in the next period, further meetings are expected in the coming months at the ministerial level.

Criticism from SPD and Greens

At the same time, MPs specializing in foreign policy issues from the co-ruling Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens strongly criticized Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“Whoever talks about a European perspective in Ankara cannot be silent about the reality of human rights in the country,” Serdar Yüksel, president of the German-Turkey Friendship Parliamentary Group, told Focus. “Silence for diplomatic reasons may be convenient, but it does not contribute to a genuine European perspective for Turkey,” he stressed.

“When CDU leader Friedrich Merz visits Turkey, promises closer ties with the EU, but doesn’t say a word about political prisoners, restrictions on press freedom or democratic opposition figures like Ekrem Imamoglu, then the wrong message is being sent.” Europe is more than security policy or an economic project, Jüksel said.

And Max Lukes, representative of the Greens on human rights issues and former head of K.O. Germany-Turkey friendship, he also strongly criticized Mertz. “Mertz either ignores the whole reality in Turkey, or he chooses to shut up himself,” he also told Focus, shooting arrows at the chancellor for choosing to remain silent in the face of the Turkish judiciary’s abuses of leading opposition politicians.

The numbers of German-Turkish relations

In closing, recalling some numbers is useful to form an overall picture. About three million people of Turkish origin live in Germany today. Germany is Turkey’s most important trading partner with the largest volume of investments. The volume of trade between the two countries amounts to approximately 55 billion euros and continues to grow every year. Facilitating the issuance of visas for businessmen was thus high on the agenda of the talks in Ankara.