“We want to see Turkey in the European Union,” said the German chancellor Friedrich Mertz at the joint press conference with the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan from Ankara, where he is making an official visit.
Friedrich Mertz said he was “satisfied” with the deal Turkey made with Britain for the purchase of 20 Eurofighter fighter jets. “These aircraft will serve our common security,” he said. For his part, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said regarding Turkey’s EU accession, that “we can make significant progress in a very short period of time”.
Germany is one of the consortium countries. Although she was initially opposed to this sale, she gave the “green light” for the European fighter deal to go ahead.
“Turkey is a very important partner,” Mertz emphasized. “Germany and Turkey, as NATO allies, share the same interests.”
“Turkey is also a very important factor in all foreign policy and security issues that concern us. We will cooperate more closely in the field of security policies,” the German chancellor added.
“Germany is Turkey’s biggest trading partner in Europe. Our goal is to increase our trade volume, which has reached $50 billion, to $60 billion in the near future,” the Turkish president added.
“Due to the changing security conditions in Europe, we must leave behind the difficulties in the supply of defense industry products and focus on joint projects,” Erdogan also said.
The two leaders, however, disagreed on the Gaza issue. “Unfortunately, I cannot agree with this Mertz policy. There is genocide and famine in Gaza. Germany, Turkey and the countries of the region will do their part to end this carnage. We are doing our duty as far as Hamas is concerned. We are working hard on this issue,” President Erdogan said.
“Germany will always stand by Israel,” the German Chancellor emphasized.
“Hamas has no bombs, no nuclear weapons. But all these weapons are in the hands of Israel. And Israel, using these weapons, for example just last night (29.10.2025), hit Gaza again with these bombs. You don’t see these in Germany? Are you not watching them?”, said Erdogan characteristically.
Source: OnAlert.gr