“German Politicians Discuss Turkey’s Future with EU, NATO Following Erdogan’s Victory”

German politicians spoke about the victory of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Chairman of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament Manfred Weber stressed to the Berliner Morgenpost that the issue of Turkey’s accession to the EU should be permanently “put aside” as it “hinders rather than helps” relations between the community and Turkey, a candidate country since 1999.

“The EU remains open to partnership as Turkey is our immediate neighbor and we have many common problems. However, I also have expectations: the approved head of state [Эрдоган] should strive to unite society and modernize the country, and should also cooperate with the EU in establishing peace between Russia and Ukraine, in migration policy and in resolving the situation in Cyprus”, Weber said.

In turn, the chief foreign policy specialist from the Bavarian Christian Social Union Jürgen Hardtcommenting on Weber’s statement, noted that Erdogan, first of all, “must immediately contribute to Sweden’s membership in NATO.”

“The next big test of EU-Turkey relations will be how the re-elected president decides whether Sweden will join NATO and how he will behave at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July,” Hardt said.

Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a Twitter post after the announcement of the election results, adding that Berlin would like to “revive” the common cause.

EADaily recalls that Germany is home to the largest cross-border Turkish community, numbering about three million people. In Sunday’s second round of Turkey’s presidential election, about one in two of the 1.5 million eligible Turks in Germany voted. As a result, Recep Tayyip Erdogan received 67.4% of the votes from the “German Turks” and showed much better results than in his homeland, where he scored 52.14%. The previous evening, his victory was celebrated by the German Turks with impromptu car parades in several major German cities.

According to the German Federal Minister of Agriculture Gemma Ozdemira (Turkish by blood), Turks in Germany who support Erdogan are celebrating without having to bear the consequences of their decision, unlike many of their compatriots in Turkey, who have been in power as head of government since 2003 and head of state since 2014 means “poverty and lack of freedom”.

“Many people in Turkey have lost all hope” Özdemir tweeted.

In his opinion, the crowds celebrating Erdogan’s victory on the streets of Germany indicate that the Turks in Germany reject “pluralistic democracy” and their integration into German society is “failing,” the “green” politician said, noting that in the coming period, Turkish “ultra-nationalism” and Islamic religious “fundamentalism” among them will be further strengthened.