Germany: EU summit to discuss deepening ties with Türkiye

Objective to rejuvenate EU-Türkiye political, economic relations in wake of President Erdogan’s re-election, top chancellery official says

An EU summit in Brussels this week will dwell on boosting political and economic relations with Türkiye, a top German chancellery said Wednesday.

“Relations with Türkiye are also an important issue for us. Türkiye is and remains an important partner in trade policy and in security politics and migration politics. But also in the overall strategic situation,” the official told media representatives in Berlin on the condition of anonymity.

“President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan was re-elected and the EU is taking this as an opportunity to take another broad look at the relationship with Turkey. And we are committed to starting this discussion,” she added.

“What we simply want is to put EU-Turkey relations back on the agenda and, so to speak, use the occasion of the elections in Turkey to possibly revitalize it, if all sides want to commit to it,” she added.

Specific proposals to intensify EU-Türkiye relations could be made at a summit in the fall, according to the official.

The week’s summit will also focus on Russia’s war against Ukraine as EU leaders will reiterate support for Kyiv.