Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
19-11-2023
BERLIN/ ISTANBUL: No speeches in front of cheering crowds. No joint public appearances between leaders and a rumoured joint visit to a Germany-Turkey football match in Berlin that is not happening after all.
For a state visit, Friday’s visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Germany is remarkably low key. He is first meeting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and then will have dinner with the chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
Two meetings behind closed doors and a private dinner hardly speak of fanfare.
Apart from the intense security in the centre of the capital, the same level as precautions taken for US presidential visits, the German government hopes Erdogan’s visit will pass with little notice.
That’s because this event couldn’t come at a worse time for Germany.
Relations between President Erdogan and successive German governments have been difficult for years, with spats between Berlin and Ankara regularly breaking out. When German government spokespeople mention the phrase “difficult partner” you know they’re talking about President Erdogan but the Hamas atrocities in Israel on 7 October, and Israel’s subsequent retaliation in Gaza, have left Germany and Turkey on opposite sides of the conflict.
Over the past month the Turkish president has become increasingly strident in his criticism of Israel.
He has refused to condemn the killings and hostage-taking by Hamas, referring to the group as “liberators”. Hamas is classed as a terrorist organization by Western allies, including Germany.
He has also appeared to call into question the Jewish state’s existence by saying that Israel’s “own fascism” undermined its legitimacy.
Jewish leaders in Germany have accused Erdogan of fuelling antisemitism with such comments and there have been calls for the German government to cancel the Turkish president’s visit.
For Germany, historical Nazi guilt for the Holocaust means that support for the state of Israel is non-negotiable and a key cornerstone of Berlin’s foreign policy. When asked in a news conference earlier this week about President Erdogan’s comments Chancellor Scholz called them “absurd”.
Both Olaf Scholz and former Chancellor Angela Merkel have repeatedly called Israel’s security Germany’s Staatsrason, or “reason of state”, a vague term German leaders use to express the idea of unwavering German support for Israel but as Israeli attacks on Gaza intensify, and the death toll rises, that principle is coming under strain.
After the initial shock of the Hamas attacks, German mainstream media is increasingly also portraying the humanitarian suffering in Gaza, leading to a growing unease about Israel’s actions. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
