Turkeys as an important partner for Germany

It is no secret that Germany already has extraordinary and intense connections with Turkey that reach back centuries. It is easy to describe the relations in numbers: Germany is home to about 2.8 million people of Turkish origin, 1.6 million of them still are of Turkish nationality. Germany remains economic partner number one for Turkey and the bilateral trade volume reaches new highs nearly every year. Turkey is very attractive as a travel and holiday destination with more than 5 million visitors from Germany in 2013. The cultural and educational relations are also traditionally close and diverse. Turkish media report regularly on Germany and all major Turkish newspapers have special editions in Germany and Europe. To short, Germany and Turkey have much in common and Germany has a high reputation in Turkey. Political relations between the two countries are also friendly, multi-layered and resilient. But they should be even tighter.

Officially, Turkey continues to seek EU membership and began the application on Oct, 4 2005. Regarding the good relationship in civil society and the economy, the expectations Turkey addresses to Germany are very high in every way, especially regarding Turkey's EU membership status and accession. Yet despite the decade since the application, unfortunately only little progress has been made regarding Turkey's EU membership status and accession. Instead of productive work on these issues and strengthening the common ground, as described above, often only the differences are focused on. For example, German visa politics encounters criticism accompanied by the revelation of the National Socialist Underground (NSU) murders. On the other hand, some people in Germany criticize Turkey on several Turkish domestic affairs. Lastly, they discussed a speech by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Karlsruhe at the time of elections in Turkey, because of the constitutional requirement for the neutrality of the president. But his perception was the opposite: Most Turkish people welcomed him in Germany as a bridge builder between Germany and Turkey.

Instead of criticism and skepticism it should be more important to develop a stronger mutual understanding on many issues. If Europe and especially Germany do not evolve a closer relationship on every level in the near future, Turkey might lose its interest in Europe. This is something we should not risk.

Germany and Turkey have the same aims in most political, economic and social issues. Turkey is not only a reliable partner in the region that plays a more important role every day internationally. A Turkish state more closely bound to Europe and Germany would also strengthen even more the already good relations in economy and civil society and bring benefits to all involved. With this in mind it is time to settle the differences, strengthen relations with Turkey and put them to good use.