German, Turkish top diplomats vow to heal bilateral relations
goslar, germany — German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu vowed Saturday to try to mend ties blighted by a slew of disputes.
Relations between the NATO partners have been badly strained in recent years, especially since the failed coup in Turkey and 2016 and a subsequent crackdown which saw tens of thousands of people arrested, including several German or dual citizens.
“We have both given ourselves the task to do everything to overcome the difficulties in GermanTurkish relations,” said Gabriel, who hosted Cavusoglu at his home in Goslar. He said they had “open talks held in mutual respect” although they “certainly did not share the same view on all matters”.
Cavusoglu however warned against Turkey being lectured or threatened, saying: “These are not good methods, according to us.”.
He also called for deeper economic ties based on “dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation.”
Their talks followed a meeting in Paris on Friday between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who warned that there was no chance of Ankara’s EU stalled membership bid moving forward.
Germany, home to a three-million-strong ethnic Turkish community, last year advised investors and holiday-makers to avoid Turkey and urged a cut in EU funding linked to Ankara’s membership talks.
The crisis has been fuelled by other disputes: over a German TV comic harshly lampooning Erdogan, a 2016 German parliamentary resolution on the Armenian genocide, and Turkey denying military base visits to German MPs.
Ankara has accused Berlin of failing to pursue followers of USbased Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom it blames for the 2016 coup attempt. —