Turkey, Germany have strong will to boost ties: FM Maas

By Nazlı Yuzbasioglu

ANKARA

Turkey and Germany share a strong will to boost bilateral relations, German foreign minister said on Wednesday.

In a series of tweets ahead of his contacts in Turkey, Heiko Maas named the country as a big neighbor and significant partner to Germany.

“We have a strong will to further improve our relations,” the minister tweeted, saying that he hopes that his Turkey trip will contribute to the bilateral relations.

Mentioning Germany’s concerns on "some developments, especially human rights" in the country, Maas said the issue would be raised during the meetings.

“We should note: Our humanitarian relations with Turkey is so intense that we must continue to work very hard to ameliorate our relations,” he added.

Over the past two years, political relations between Ankara and Berlin have suffered setbacks, but in recent months both sides have taken steps towards improving ties.

As part of his visit, Maas will be hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and meet Turkish Parliament Speaker Binali Yildirim.

Following his high-level talks in the capital, Maas is scheduled to visit Istanbul on Thursday, where he will attend a ceremony alongside his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to mark the 150th anniversary of the German School of Istanbul.

Maas' two-day trip to Turkey comes ahead of Erdogan’s key visit to Berlin on Sept. 28-29.

EU heavyweight Germany remains Turkey’s main economic and trade partner, despite the political disagreements between the two governments on a number of issues.

Berlin’s reluctance to take serious measures against terrorist groups such as the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) has long been a source of tension between the two countries.

Both terrorist groups use Germany, which is home to more than 3 million migrants from Turkey, as a platform for their propaganda fund raising and recruitment activities.