Overview
- The chancellor holds his inaugural bilateral talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan focused on stabilizing the Gaza ceasefire, the war in Ukraine, migration returns, and defense cooperation.
- The trip follows a deal for 20 Eurofighter Typhoon jets concluded with German involvement earlier this week, with officials signaling additional projects nearing completion.
- Berlin aims to accelerate returns of rejected asylum seekers to Turkey, citing roughly 22,560 people, and to work with Ankara on repatriating Syrian refugees.
- NGOs and SPD foreign policy voice Ralf Stegner call on Merz to raise the detention and renewed arrest warrant for opposition figure Ekrem İmamoğlu, though it remains unclear if he will do so.
- The government says the visit centers on a single bilateral meeting with Erdoğan without opposition contacts, in a roughly 23-hour program that includes a ceremonial welcome at Atatürk’s mausoleum.