Overview
- On Monday Hendrik Wüst flew to Ankara with a large economic delegation and press corps for a planned three‑day visit that will take him on to Istanbul.
- Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan unexpectedly agreed to receive Wüst in Ankara, a protocol step that elevates the trip beyond routine state‑level regional outreach.
- Wüst framed the mission around the 65th anniversary of the German‑Turkish recruitment agreement and NRW’s 80th year while calling to “open a new chapter” in ties and pushing talks on modernizing the EU‑Turkey customs union.
- Speaking to Anadolu and Hürriyet, Wüst denied plans to seek federal office and reaffirmed he intends to remain NRW minister president while urging mainstream parties to tackle energy costs and migration to reverse AfD gains.
- The visit builds on deep people‑to‑people and trade links—about one third of Germany’s Turkish‑origin population lives in NRW, annual trade is roughly €10–12 billion and more than 1,200 Turkish firms operate in the state—while EU accession and human‑rights disputes continue to limit formal progress.