The Berlin police do not give information about how the Turkish president’s motorcade will move in Berlin, nor about the security measures.
But it is considered certain that he will mobilize thousands of police and riot police in central parts of the capital, block the area around the Adlon Hotel where the Turkish president will stay with his delegation, the airspace will be blocked and even police boats will patrol the waters of the river Spree, in short the measures he took in 2018, when he visited Berlin for a three-day stay. This time the visit will last much less, but it is expected to be “explosive”, judging by Erdogan’s repeated positions and statements about Hamas, Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the war in Gaza.
Does the government have “double standards”?
A few hours before Erdoğan’s arrival in the German capital, the reactions peak. The president of the Central Council of Jews, Joseph Schuster, without openly opposing the visit, expresses doubts about its meaning, moreover, he does not see the Turkish president as a politician who is legitimized to be a partner for Germany. “Anyone who not only denies Israel’s right to exist, but actively fights it, should not be a partner for German politics,” he told the German Press Network (RND). “The chancellor must use the Turkish president’s visit to make it very clear to Erdogan that the relativization of Hamas terrorism will not be accepted under any circumstances.” Severe criticism was made by Can Dudar, the former editor-in-chief of the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, who has been living in exile in Germany for the last few years. Speaking in today’s Augsburger Allgemeine, he accused the German government of double standards. “While on the one hand it prohibits demonstrations in favor of Hamas, on the other hand it welcomes its supporter. Erdogan publicly supports Hamas, yet they roll out the red carpet for him,” he said, arguing that the visit should have been postponed.
The Turkish journalist has been sentenced in Turkey to 27 years in prison on charges of supporting terrorism. Erdoğan’s previous visit to Berlin caused much debate because of the credit he received in the joint press conference with then-Chancellor Merkel. Shortly before it happened, he received a phone call from the German side informing him that if he goes to the press conference, Erdogan will not come. After this he returned the accreditation and did not go to the chancellery.
The “Dynamics of Arguments”
But the president of the Kurdish Community in Germany, Ali Ertan Toprak, also believes that the planned visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Berlin on Friday is a mistake and he would prefer it to be cancelled.
“It is unacceptable that we talk every day about Germany’s constitutional commitment to Israel’s security and then roll out the red carpet for one of the biggest anti-Semites here,” Toprak told the German News Network RND, “under the current situation, I would like the German side to cancel the visit”, he stressed. On the contrary, the Christian parties CDU/CSU stood on the side of Olaf Solz. “It is right and necessary for the chancellor to welcome Turkish President Erdogan to Berlin for talks on a working visit,” said the deputy head of K.O. of the CDU/CSU’s Johan Vandeful on the German Journalism Network (RND). “There he will be able to openly face the fundamental differences (of positions), and it is equally important,” he stressed. Of course, he called Erdogan’s statements “outrageous” after the terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel with 1300 dead and the beautification of the organization as a “liberating organization”. However, Turkey is “an important and reliable NATO partner… we should constantly try to find common ground,” he hastened to add.
For his part, government representative Stephen Hebstreit did not hide the difficulties of the visit. “There is an exchange of views, but the positions are very different, we cannot have any illusions” he admitted in one of the last government briefings. The German government hopes for the “dynamics of the arguments” in relation to the Turkish positions. How this will be implemented and what form it will take remains to be seen in practice. On the agenda of the talks there are several big issues that the chancellor intends to raise with the Turkish president, who will first have a meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The duration of the debate is set for 2 and a half hours, among the topics are immigration and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Especially in immigration, there is a lot of room for debate. Alexander Dobrid, head of K.O. of the Christian Socialists in the Bavarian Parliament, said that the “chancellor should emphasize to him that it is unacceptable that more and more asylum seekers with Turkish citizenship are coming to us”. Will joint statements be made with the risk of Erdogan repeating his positions on Hamas and Israel on European soil? Here the government is still keeping its cards closed. The government spokesman said that by tomorrow Friday at the latest he would be able to give some answer…
Source: German wave
