German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Turkey
Date
10/20/2015 4:18:02 AM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Turkey on Sunday to discuss the current refugee crisis and ongoing civil war in Syria meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutolu.
After the meeting Merkel and Erdoan held a joint press conference stating that their talks predominantly revolved around the refugee crisis terrorism and Turkey’s accession to the EU. Merkel said Germany could help to speed up the process of visa liberalization for Turkish citizens wishing to travel to the EU and consider picking up stalled negotiations on the readmission agreement that could see some refugees in the EU be returned to Turkey.
The Turkish side emphasized the need to share the burden of the current refugee crisis and to re-energize Turkey-EU relations.
The refugee crisis has come to garner increased attention among the member states of the EU this summer as unprecedented numbers of migrants a large portion of which are coming from Turkey make their way to Central and Northern Europe after reaching the EU’s Mediterranean borders. The EU recently revised its migration policy deciding that member states would receive more refugees according to their capacities. This flow of refugees into Europe has shined a spotlight on Turkey as an important partner for the EU.
Nonetheless Merkel’s visit to Turkey has spurred heated discussions in Germany as she received stark criticism from the parliamentary opposition.
A German politician of Turkish origin who acts as co-chairman of the Green Party Cem Özdemir stated that “Until the election on Nov. 1 we should not do anything that could be interpreted as strengthening Erdoan”.
As reported by Deutsche Welle Claudia Roth also from the Greens accused the Chancellor of “supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan’s election campaign”.
In addition Sevim Dadelen from the Left Party opposed Merkel’s meeting with Mr. Erdoan because of the recent blasts in Ankara.
Nonetheless many government officials in Germany believe that Merkel’s visit with Erdoan represents an important step in solving the refugee crisis even though the current political conjuncture of the country in addition to the attacks in Ankara have made the situation “more complicated”.
By Öznur Akcal
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.