German Chancellor Scholz in Istanbul for talks with Erdoğan

ANKARA

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Istanbul late Friday for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, focusing on migration, regional conflicts, and defense cooperation.

Scholz and his delegation landed at Istanbul Airport at 10:03 pm local time (1903 GMT), welcomed by Turkish Ambassador to Berlin Ahmet Başar Sen and other officials. The visit follows Scholz's meeting in Berlin with U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from France and Britain.

The German Chancellor and Erdoğan are scheduled to meet Saturday, followed by a news conference.

The visit comes amid heightened tensions over the Gaza conflict. Erdoğan, a fierce critic of Israel's Gaza campaign, has often criticized Western capitals for supporting Israel, which he brands a "terror state". Berlin, in contrast, is a strong supporter of Israel and has defended its right to self-defense.

Scholz expressed hope that the reported death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, considered the architect of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, might pave the way for a ceasefire.

On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held talks with Hamas officials in Istanbul, offering condolences over Sinwar's death and discussing "the state of recent negotiations for a ceasefire deal allowing the exchange of hostages and prisoners".

Migration is expected to be a central topic in the Scholz-Erdogan talks. Scholz's government faces increased pressure following a series of violent crimes and extremist attacks committed by asylum seekers.

"We will be discussing many issues. The issue of migration is of course always one of them, and the fact that the European Union and Türkiye are working together on this is also right and reasonable," Scholz told reporters in Brussels on Oct. 17.

“I have always supported this, and repeatedly asked the European Union to extend the relevant agreements,” he said, referring to the 2016 EU-Türkiye migration agreement, which effectively stopped irregular refugee flows into Europe through the Aegean Sea.

Ankara, however, has repeatedly criticized its European partners for not honoring their commitments. As part of the deal, the EU had promised to accelerate Türkiye’s EU accession process, start negotiations on modernizing the Customs Union and provide visa-free travel for Turkish nationals within the Schengen area.

Scholz said during his visit to Istanbul, they will discuss various aspects of EU-Türkiye cooperation, enhancing economic ties and good neighborly relations in the region.

Scholz also confirmed that Türkiye's interest in purchasing Eurofighter Typhoon jets will be on the agenda.

"Of course, we always discuss the supply of weapons to our NATO partner," he said, adding that the U.K. is currently holding talks with the Turkish government on the potential sale.

“This is at a very early stage, and that is why we said, ‘let’s negotiate,’” he said, noting that Germany has not yet given its final approval.

Eurofighter Typhoon jets are jointly produced by the U.K., Germany, Italy and Spain.

Germany has approved a document and given a preliminary green light for the sale of 40 Eurofighter jets to Türkiye, thereby, initiating technical negotiations, according to recent media reports.