Visit to Berlin: Scholz urges Erdogan to take back rejected asylum seekers

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has urged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to increase the return of rejected asylum seekers to Turkey.

The Chancellor emphasized that there must be “a robust mechanism” for this, it was said from German government circles on Friday evening after the two-hour dinner in the Chancellery. A joint working group should now present results soon.

The migration researcher Gerald Knaus, who is considered the architect of the EU-Turkey agreement from 2016, is now calling for a renewed migration agreement between the European Union and Turkey. “Germany is the main destination country for those who reach the EU from Turkey,” he wrote in a guest article published on the online site of the magazine “Focus” on Saturday. The German government’s promise to reduce irregular migration without human rights violations cannot be achieved without cooperation with Turkey.

Knaus suggested that Turkey should “again agree to officially, as of a new deadline, quickly take back anyone from Greece and Bulgaria who can receive a fair asylum procedure or protection as a Syrian in Turkey in order to legally and quickly reduce this irregular migration.” In return, Greece, Germany and other states should promise Turkey the legal admission of refugees through orderly procedures, as they did in 2016. To this end, the EU must again provide money for the accommodation of refugees in Turkey and introduce visa facilitation for Turkish citizens.

“Terror state” and “fascism”: Erdogan does not repeat allegations

On the controversial topic of the Middle East conflict, the discussion between Erdogan and Scholz focused on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the release of Hamas hostages and concerns about regional escalation, German government circles said. They also said they discussed longer-term prospects for the Gaza Strip and the Middle East conflict. “The Chancellor underlined Germany’s position of solidarity with Israel and clearly condemned the terrorist attack by Hamas.”

Erdogan’s visit to Germany, the first in almost four years, was controversial because of his harsh verbal attacks against Israel in connection with the Gaza war. The Turkish president condemned the murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians in the terrorist attack on October 7th, but later described the Hamas responsible as a “liberation organization.” On the other hand, he accused Israel of “genocide” (genocide) in the Gaza Strip and “fascism”, described the country as a “terrorist state” and questioned its right to exist.

However, in the press conference with Scholz, Erdogan avoided further escalation. Even when asked, he did not repeat the allegations of genocide and fascism against Israel. He also did not question Israel’s legitimacy again and refrained from calling Hamas a “liberation organization.”

New spikes against Israel and Germany

However, there were new tips from the Turkish president. He accused Israel of holding more hostages than Hamas’s more than 200 in the Gaza Strip. There have been “hostages and prisoners” in Israel’s hands for years and “by far more” than in the hands of Hamas. What exactly Erdogan was referring to remained unclear.

The Turkish president veiledly accused Germany of over-protecting Israel because of its historical guilt for the Holocaust. Israel has killed thousands of Palestinians, destroyed hospitals, and bombed prayer houses and churches. “Why is there no reaction?” he asked. Erdogan said he could speak freely, “because we don’t owe Israel anything.” His country was not involved in the Holocaust. There was no comment from Scholz.

Scholz: “Very different perspectives”

The Chancellor had already rejected Erdogan’s verbal attacks against Israel as “absurd” before the conversation. In the press conference he was careful not to add further fuel to the fire. “It’s no secret that we have very different views on the conflict,” he said.

Both politicians agreed that in the short term humanitarian ceasefires to provide supplies to the civilian population and in the long term a two-state solution with peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians were needed.

Rapid expansion of imam training agreed

After the conversation, a long list of the results of the conversation was distributed from German government circles. The two agreed on a rapid expansion of imam training in Germany in order to gradually end the deployment of imams from Turkey. Scholz also promised Erdogan support in rebuilding educational institutions after the devastating earthquake in February this year, in which tens of thousands of people died. The two also agreed that “Russia is still urgently called upon” to end the war of aggression against Ukraine. The Chancellor promoted Turkey’s pending ratification of Sweden’s accession to NATO and acknowledged the easing of relations between Turkey and Greece. Erdogan will also travel to Athens on December 7th.