BFF-48 Merkel, Erdogan vow to rebuild ties despite rifts

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Merkel, Erdogan vow to rebuild ties despite rifts

BERLIN, Sept 28, 2018 (BFF/AFP) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Friday to rebuild strained
relations after a two-year crisis despite remaining differences on civil
rights and other issues.

Erdogan was visiting the top EU economy, home to three million people of
Turkish descent, in what German media have described as a charm offensive.

Turkey is suffering economic turbulence aggravated by US sanctions
stemming from a row with US President Donald Trump.

The three-day state visit is being held under tight security as thousands
were due to protest against the Turkish leader under the banner “Erdogan Not
Welcome”.

Merkel and Erdogan stressed the need to rebuild traditional ties that hit a
historic low after a 2016 failed coup and subsequent crackdown in Turkey.

The two NATO allies agreed to jointly discuss the Syria crisis in a
meeting next month with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron
of France, Merkel said at a joint press conference.

But the gulf between them remained apparent on issues from press freedom
to the fate of German or dual citizens being held behind bars in Turkey, and
on whether Germany should extradite Erdogan’s declared foes.

Merkel, under pressure at home for giving Erdogan the red-carpet treatment,
said there was “on both sides a joint strategic interest in good relations”
despite “deep differences… especially in questions about a democratic, open
society”.

But she stressed that continued dialogue was the best way to overcome
those differences. She also vowed to keep pushing for the release of five
German citizens still being held in Turkey.

– ‘Win-win’ business –

At the height of the crisis, Berlin had urged its citizens and companies to
stay away from Turkey and pulled out its troops from NATO bases.

However, relations have thawed somewhat since Turkey in February released
prominent German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel.

Trump in August raised tariffs on Turkish aluminium and steel, in
retaliation for the detention of an American pastor on terrorism charges in
Turkey.

On Turkey’s economic woes, Merkel said that “Germany has an interest in an
economically stable Turkey” with GDP growth.

Erdogan, who at the height of the diplomatic crisis had accused Berlin of
“Nazi-like practices”, also struck a conciliatory tone, pointing to “win-win”
business projects on the horizon.

On the question of open trade, he said, without mentioning Trump, that “we
are of the same opinion as Germany” and that protectionism “spells a great
danger for global security”.

However, he said Germany was doing too little to deal with thousands of
Kurdish militants on its soil.

He complained that Germany was refusing to extradite followers of Muslim
cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the coup attempt.

Merkel said Germany regards the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) as a banned
militant organisation but was not convinced it should treat the Gulen
movement the same way.

– Tight security –

Ahead of Erdogan’s arrival, Turkey handed Germany a list of 69 people it
wants extradited, among them alleged PKK and far-left activists and Gulen
followers.

Also on the list was journalist Can Dundar, who has lived in Germany since
2016. He is evading a jail sentence for his Cumhuriyet newspaper’s reporting
on alleged secret Turkish arms deliveries to Islamist rebels in Syria.

Dundar dropped plans to attend Friday’s press conference, claiming Erdogan
had threatened to boycott it.

Dundar said he did not want to “be the news” and spark a new diplomatic
crisis.

But Erdogan charged that Dundar “is an agent, he is a person who has
disclosed state secrets”.

“No country would allow state secrets to be disclosed,” he added.

“It is our natural right to want the extradition of a guilty individual.”

Mass protests were planned against Erdogan Friday, with demonstrations
also expected Saturday when he opens a mosque in the city of Cologne.

More than 4,000 police were deployed across central Berlin, where
helicopters buzzed in the sky and snipers guarded the roof of the Adlon Hotel
where Erdogan was staying.

German Green party politician Cem Ozdemir, who has Turkish roots, said
Erdogan should have been received with less pomp, perhaps for a working-level
visit.

He told AFP that, even though a rapprochement was good news, those Turkish
citizens “who wish for democracy and human rights… do not deserve to be
abandoned by us”.

BSS/AFP/RY/1844 hrs