President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will hold a meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Türkiye’s capital Ankara on Wednesday, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said Tuesday.
The discussions will focus on cooperation in the defense industry, with Türkiye-Germany relations to be addressed in all its aspects, Altun said on X.
The situation of the Turkish community in Germany will also be on the agenda, Altun added.
He said that the talks are also expected to include an exchange of views on Türkiye-EU relations and current regional issues.
"We believe that the long-standing and deep-rooted bilateral relations between Türkiye and Germany will be further strengthened through this visit," he said.
Steinmeier's visit to Ankara will take place after meeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto ruler, in Riyadh and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
According to his office, Steinmeier intends to articulate clearly Germany's interests in light of the upheavals in the Middle East.
Turkish officials highlight the threats of racism and Islamophobia and urge European counterparts to take a firm stance against it.
The Turkish community in Germany, one of the largest with a population of over 3 million people, grew out of small groups of Turkish "guest workers" brought in for rebuilding post-World War II Germany. Over the decades, they rose to a prominent place in society, but neo-Nazi threats prevailed as a major threat to the community fighting xenophobia or rather, an anti-Turkish sentiment, evident in attacks specifically targeting them. Neo-Nazi groups, to which authorities turn a blind eye most of the time, are responsible for a range of crimes, from minor acts of vandalism of Turkish mosques to serial murders.
