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Speaking at a joint news conference with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Germany and Türkiye should remove restrictions on Turkish defense industry.
Erdoğan also voiced concerns over activities of terrorist groups in Europe and said they expected German authorities to do more in fight against terrorism.
Steinmeier arrived in Türkiye on Monday and his first stopover was Istanbul, an unusual schedule for a visiting president who traditionally meets first with head of state. In Istanbul, he met everyone from renowned author Orhan Pamuk to former president Abdullah Gül, before departing for Gaziantep, one of the provinces hit by 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye’s south. Erdoğan himself was not available on Monday as he made a landmark visit to Iraq and spent the next day by meeting children on the occasion of Children’s Day and attending a funeral in Istanbul.
His visit, first to Türkiye since he took office in 2017, met with protests almost everywhere he visited over Berlin’s stand on Palestine-Israel conflict. Activists staged protests near the president in Ankara, Istanbul and Gaziantep, blaming Germany for contributing to “murders” of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel, a close ally of Germany.
In Ankara on Wednesday, he first paid respects to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of Republic of Türkiye by visiting his mauseloum Anıtkabir. Then, he visited Ankara University where German scientists taught after arriving in Türkiye in 1930s upon invitation of Atatürk. Before the official welcoming ceremony by Erdoğan, Steinmeier also met Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş. After his meeting with Erdoğan, he was scheduled to hold talks with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel.
