Turkey demands Germany not to let any action taken to support the terrorist organization go unresponded and not be allowed, Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Akif Çağatay Kılıç said Friday.
Kılıç told Anadolu Agency (AA), ahead of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's visit that serious support should be given to Turkey as a NATO ally fighting terrorism.
He reminded that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey in March, and during the meeting, the Russian-Ukrainian War, its effects on the world economy and efforts to stop human casualties were discussed.
Kılıç stated that they are in intensive consultation and cooperation with Germany, one of their partners in the European Union, within the framework of the grain corridor agreement signed in Istanbul.
Stating that they are in cooperation and exchange views with the German government on many international issues such as the membership process of Sweden and Finland to NATO, he said: "We continue our relations with consultations where we have different views from time to time, but there is no serious negativity even though there is a strong coalition so far. Of course, differences of opinion do and will be a part of international relations."
He stated they think differently about Greece with the new government, as they did with the previous German government. "Because we say: 'You are spoiling Greece as the EU and it acts like the EU's spoiled child. However, Turkey has its own arguments, there are many points on which it is right. There is international law. In this context, you should evaluate our relations with Greece.' But they approach it from the perspective of being one of the partners in the union within the framework of EU support. We can't agree here."
Kılıç stated that Germany is an important partner and NATO ally, that they work together on many international issues and organizations, and that nearly 3 million citizens living in Germany are an effective factor in the relations between the two countries.
Reminding that German Foreign Minister Baerbock had previously wanted to come to Turkey, but the visit was postponed because she contracted COVID-19 during her visit to India, Kılıç continued as follows: "She will have a meeting with our foreign minister. We will attend that meeting. Of course, many more international issues will come to the table. The NATO membership of Finland and Sweden, the processes related to the implementation of the agreement signed in Madrid. The Russia-Ukraine war in international relations will definitely be on the table. The current issues of the studies on the grain corridor will be evaluated. Economic relations between Turkey and Germany, the agreement on the renewal of the Customs Union will be on the table. There will be consultations on economic and social relations."
Kılıç stated that some of the German citizens of Turkish origin living in Germany are dual citizens and that this issue will definitely be on the agenda of the meeting.
"This is a matter under Germany's responsibility. We are holding consultations so that our citizens there do not remain in dilemmas and do not have difficulties and that Germany should also take a step at this point. We have received the messages and signals from Germany that it is now seriously possible for this process to progress positively."
Underlining that cooperation and mutual investments can be made with Germany in many fields such as industry, technology, trade, construction, aviation, food, agriculture and tourism, Kılıç said that the deputies of both countries could carry out joint work in parliamentary assemblies at the point of parliamentary relations.
Talking about Turkey's fight against terrorism, Kılıç emphasized that the inclusion of a document referring to the PKK terrorist organization and its extensions under different names, as well as the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ), in the final declaration at the NATO summit is a great success for Turkey in diplomatic and international relations.
Kılıç made the following assessments by referring to the fact that the terrorist organization PKK was included in the German intelligence report: "We have been saying for a long time that the PKK and those who sympathize with it in Germany have some negative attitudes in material terms. German authorities also say that they are following up. Steps have begun to be taken. Now we see that, especially for the PKK, Germany has no accommodation opportunities as easily as before. In this sense, we see that those who have some practices, such as collecting extortion from some NGOs and threatening people's lives, are followed seriously and legal actions are taken regarding them. Our expectation from Germany is that these will continue and increase without compromise. It is our demand that any step that supports the terrorist organization and aims to make the terrorist appear innocent is not left unanswered or allowed."
"Sometimes, unfortunately, we see the PKK's rags being used in Germany. The sympathizers and terrorist elements there are taking advantage of the loopholes in the federal system. They take advantage of this gap and make some demonstrations. It has decreased compared to the past, but this should be reduced to zero and should not be allowed in any way. Because Turkey, a NATO ally fighting terrorism, should be given serious support in this sense," he added.
Expressing that they regret the intense cooperation of some politicians in Germany with PKK sympathizers residing there, Kılıç said: "It is extremely wrong to support the structures that the PKK and its affiliates are in, under some front NGOs, as if they were supporting the so-called NGOs or freedom efforts. Unfortunately, we cannot ignore the fact that the weapon support provided by Germany to some terrorist elements in northern Iraq and Syria is being used against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), which is a NATO ally and is fighting against terrorism."
Kılıç emphasized that Turkey has been fighting resolutely with Daesh, PKK and organizations under different names in the fight against terrorism. He noted that Europe should stand much more rigidly and harshly against these terrorist organizations that also threaten it.
"Because it's going to come around and hit them too. They should not think that the organizations operating in Germany under the guise of NGOs and which are occasionally tolerated do not turn around and lead the German community to unrest. We share this information with them. It is the responsibility of the German authorities to act on that information and ensure the safety of their own citizens."
Noting that they told the German authorities that FETÖ is an organization that uses very different elements and conceals itself well, Kılıç said that the terrorist group has more than 20 schools in Germany.
He suggested the German Finance Ministry to investigate whether these schools, which are supported by the taxes of German citizens, are operating correctly. He also drew attention to the fact that Germany showed great tolerance to FETÖ members who fled Turkey and took refuge there.
Kılıç pointed out that Germany has begun to understand Turkey's concerns regarding the PKK and FETÖ. However, he added that some politicians could not fully understand how the extensions of the PKK under different names act and the structure of FETÖ, so they will continue to explain the structure of these organizations and their activities for manipulation.
