Stable, democratic Turkey in Germany’s interest, says Merkel’s spokeswoman

BERLIN - Anadolu Agency

A stable, prosperous and democratic Turkey is in the interest of Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokeswoman said on Aug. 29.

Responding to questions by journalists during a regular news conference in Berlin, deputy government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer did not confirm or deny recent media reports that claimed Germany could provide assistance to Turkey to prevent a financial crisis.

“The federal government is closely following developments in Turkey. A stable, prosperous and democratic Turkey is in our interest,” Demmer said.

Several European media outlets reported on Aug. 28 that Germany was examining ways to assist Turkey, and claimed that the options included a coordinated European assistance, bilateral aid or project-specific loans by state-controlled development banks.

Last week, the German government spokesman said Berlin was not planning a bilateral financial assistance for the time being.

The deputy government spokeswoman refrained from making a detailed comment on whether the government had changed its position, but said she did not have an update about the matter.

Demmer also said they should wait for the upcoming high-level talks between German and Turkish governments.

“As you know preparations are continuing. Ahead of President Erdogan’s visit, the finance minister will meet with his counterpart here,” Demmer said, adding that she could not anticipate the discussions.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will pay a key visit to Germany on Sept. 28-29.

Ahead of the visit, Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak is expected to meet his German counterpart Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Sept. 21.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is also scheduled to visit Turkey next week for talks on economic and political ties, and international issues.

On Aug. 28, Maas criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s sanctions and his economic pressure policy toward Turkey.

“Of course we Europeans have a great interest in a stable economic development in Turkey,” he said.

Germany is Turkey’s main economic and trade partner and more than 7,500 German companies are active in Turkey. In 2017, the bilateral trade volume reached 37.6 billion ($43.6 billion) euros.