Germany's Merz urges deeper European ties with Turkey despite disagreement on Gaza

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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Europe should forge a deeper strategic partnership with Turkey in response to emerging global challenges, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday on his first official visit to Ankara, which has played a crucial mediating role in the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Merz was speaking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, just days after Turkey and the United Kingdom finalized a multi-billion-dollar deal for the sale of 20 Eurofighter Typhoon jets. Germany, part of the consortium that manufactures the advanced fighter aircraft, recently lifted its longstanding objection to their export to Turkey.

Merz’s visit also comes amid reports of German backing for Turkey’s participation in a European defense initiative known as the Security Action for Europe, or SAFE - a 150-billion-euro ($173.5 billion) program designed to enhance the continent’s military capabilities. The initiative allows non-EU countries, including Turkey, to join defense projects.

Greece openly opposes Turkey’s participation in the SAFE program, arguing that Ankara must first drop its standing threat of war linked to sea boundary disputes between the two NATO members.

Merz did not mention SAFE but underscored the importance of cooperation. “Germany and Turkey should use the enormous potential of our relations even better in the coming months and years,” he said.

“There are compelling reasons for this, because we are entering a new geopolitical phase marked by the politics of great powers,” the chancellor said. “A central conclusion from that for me is that as Germans and Europeans, we must expand our strategic partnerships, and there is no way around a good and deepened partnership with Turkey.”

Divisions surfaced during the joint news conference over human rights and the situation in Gaza.

The advocacy group, Human Rights Watch, had urged Merz to speak out against Turkey’s crackdown on the opposition, including the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. The opposition figure, widely seen as a potential challenger to Erdogan, has been held in pretrial detention since March on corruption charges, which he denies. This week, Turkish authorities filed new charges against him for alleged espionage.

Merz avoided direct mention of Imamoglu but said: “Decisions have been made in Turkey that do not yet meet the requirements regarding the rule of law and democracy as we understand them from the European point of view.”

Erdogan responded by defending Turkey’s judicial system: “No matter what position you hold, if you trample on the law, judicial authorities in a state governed by the rule of law are obliged to take whatever action is necessary.”

On the issue of Gaza, Merz said that Germany has stood firmly by Israel since it was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust and will always do so. But “that doesn’t mean that we respect or accept every political decision by an Israeli government and accept it without criticism.”

Merz has frequently criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza in recent months.

On Thursday, he stressed that “Israel made use of its right of self-defense, and it would have taken only a single decision to avoid the countless unnecessary victims: Hamas should have released the hostages earlier and laid down its weapons. Then this war would have been over immediately.”

Erdogan, a vocal critic of Israel’s military actions, again accused Israel of using “starvation and genocide” as weapons of war.

The Turkish leader argued that Hamas does not possess bombs or nuclear weapons, while Israel does, and criticized Germany for allegedly ignoring the imbalance.

“As Germany, can’t you see this?” he asked.

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Geir Moulson in Berlin and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed.