German business warns Turkey trade to plunge amid row
BERLIN: German business groups warned that economic ties with Turkey would go from bad to worse as a sharply escalating diplomatic row heightens uncertainty.
The biggest EU economy, home to three million people of Turkish origin, has repeatedly clashed with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over civil rights and other issues, especially since a failed coup attempt a year ago sparked mass arrests.
After Turkey remanded in custody several human rights activists, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that Germany – Turkey’s top trading partner, number-two foreign investor and biggest source of tourists – would launch a sweeping overhaul of bilateral relations.
German holiday-makers were urged to exercise ‘heightened caution’ in Turkey, and Gabriel said Berlin would review investment aid and state guarantees and discourage German companies from doing business there.
“You can’t advise someone to invest in a country where there is no legal certainty and even completely innocent companies are linked to terrorism,” said Gabriel.
German business federation BGA, which represents exporters and wholesalers, predicted that “the uncertainty German companies already feel will now rapidly increase”.
“Many companies have already put their investments on ice,” said its spokesman Andre Schwarz.
“We must expect significant declines in exports if the measures being considered are imple-
You can’t advise someone to invest in a country where there is no legal certainty and even completely innocent companies are linked to terrorism. Sigmar Gabriel, Foreign Minister
mented, and investments too will suffer.”
The Federal Association of German Industry (BDI) warned that “the uncertainty of the past year is already causing more and more German companies to distance themselves from Turkey”. “Turkey is hurting itself.” News weekly Die Zeit has reported that Ankara accused large German companies of terrorism links, among them luxury car maker Daimler and chemicals giant BASF, claims dismissed as ‘absurd’ in Berlin.
“We are going through a low point in German-Turkish economic ties,” Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries told the Handelsblatt financial daily.
“If innocent German companies suddenly appear on ‘blacklists’ and are branded as terrorist supporters, this creates a climate that makes new business and investment in Turkey extremely difficult.” — AFP