German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel was in Ankara on Monday. Gabriel had a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, which lasted two-and-a-half hours. Since the meetings went on longer than scheduled – there was no other reason beside this – his meeting with Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım had to be canceled due to Yıldırım's other appointments. Subsequently, Gabriel met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as scheduled.
First of all, it is necessary to say that Gabriel is a politician who has had cordial relations with Turkey for years as a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) close to former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who is a genuine friend of Turkey. For years, he has constantly held dialogues with Çavuşoğlu, the Youth and Sports Minister Akif Çağatay Kılıç and former EU Minister Egemen Bağış. He stood out as one of the Europeans who could talk to Erdoğan on friendly terms while on visits to Turkey organized when he was chairman of the SPD.
His first visit to Turkey as foreign minister was also positive. At the very beginning of the press conference that Gabriel gave with Çavuşoğlu, he referred to the odious coup attempt organized by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) on July 15, 2016, being self-critical and stating that the fact that a German government representative did not visit Ankara after the incident was a mistake. His statement was meaningful for the entire EU since the EU failed to respond to the attempted coup. This coup attempt was essentially an assault on democracy aimed at founding a fascist regime in Turkey, and one which killed and injured numerous people. So, the EU should have been one of the first ones to react against it. However, the press releases on the issue were not adequate. They should have shown their solidarity by visiting Ankara, but unfortunately, they did not do this.
In this sense, Gabriel's sincere remarks suggesting that he shares the same feelings on FETÖ and the PKK terrorist group as Turkey does were very meaningful. His remarks were also the same both behind closed doors and in public. Turkey is not used to seeing such sincerity from EU politicians. Many of them speak to the media differently from what they say behind closed doors.
For this reason, Gabriel discussed in an honest way the problems between Germany and Turkey and the future steps regarding the two countries. Hopefully, his behavior will set an example to other EU representatives since such an honest environment was urgently needed to take positive steps and resolve the problems between Turkey and Germany as well as between Turkey and the EU.
Turkish authorities already cherish such an honest attitude. Both Erdoğan and Çavuşoğlu are discussing every subject in an open and honest manner with their interlocutors. The meeting on Monday was the same in this sense.It was revealed during the meeting that the problems are not really as they are represented in German and EU media outlets. For example, Turkey is not against the Bundestag Defense Committee delegation's visit to the German troops at İncirlik Air Base. The German public is misinformed on the subject. Turkey is only against the visit of members whose support of the PKK is proven. The country rightfully does not want to see several German deputies who side with a terrorist group that has killed thousands of people in Turkey and is also recognized as an outlawed organization by the EU. Had some deputies in Turkey supported the Red Army Faction, which is a Germany-based terrorist group that has not yet been completely eradicated, I suppose Germany's reaction would have been similar. The people who side with terrorism should not be accepted in any country, even if they are members of parliament .
This is the main reason for the current İncirlik Air Base crisis with Germany. As a matter of fact, this crisis is a great opportunity for Germany and the EU to revise their actions. It would favor them if they were self-critical and reassess their approache to the terrorist groups that might pose great danger in the future as Daesh does today.
On Monday, Erdoğan and Çavuşoğlu informed Gabriel of PKK activities, its Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) affiliate, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) and FETÖ in Germany, most of which Gabriel heard for the first time. Also, according to the statements in the press conference, the names of two former generals involved in the coup plot who recently fled from Greece to Germany were shared with Gabriel. It is unacceptable for the German democrats who took a stance against pro-coup and fascist colonels in Greece and the fascist General Augusto Pinochet in Chile to remain silent to Germany's granting asylum to two fascist generals who ordered troops to bomb Parliament, kill people and ravage the country. Currently, only in Germany, there are around 400 diplomats and military officers who are FETÖ disciples with diplomat passports of the Republic of Turkey. Sadly, Germany, the most experienced country regarding fascism, remains indifferent to those fascists by granting them the right of asylum.
However, I am not the only one claiming that Fethullah Gülen, who is the leader of FETÖ that aims to seize control of many Islamic countries by exploiting Islam, poses a great danger to Germany as well. Many German politicians and journalists are aware of this. Of course, Gülen cannot possibly seize control of a country like Germany, but thousands of terrorism proponents who have been brainwashed by Gülen are encouraged by the latest developments in Germany. FETÖ proponents in Germany pose a serious threat to German society. However, Germany can render FETÖ leaders ineffective and avert their brainwashing activities in their country by cooperating with Turkey. The same goes for the PKK. This terrorist group, which poses a great danger especially to Kurds living in Germany, is racketeering Kurdish businessmen in the country. The reports of the relevant institutions in Germany on this matter are evident. Many German administrators, politicians and journalists know this much better than I.
Even the İncirlik crisis has emerged due to terrorist groups. Such crises would not occur were it not for some people among the German deputies visiting Turkey who overtly support the PKK. On the other hand, some political parties flirting with the PKK specially choose their representatives among such people since they aim to trigger a crisis between Turkey and Germany. Those crises mostly favor terrorist groups.
Turkey does not have any problem with Germany, Germans or the German military. This is also true for the EU. The only problem for Turkey is the support given to the terrorist groups that attack Turkish security forces and civilians every day. They are no different from the terrorists pulling the trigger. No matter whether they are parliament members or journalists, their visits to Turkey cannot be accepted as long as they support the terrorist groups shedding blood in Turkey. The German public can understand this very well.