BAKU. TurkicWorld :

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will pay a one-day working visit to Germany upon the invitation of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, where bilateral ties, Türkiye’s accession to the EU and the ongoing offensive by Israel against the civilians in Gaza will pre-occupy the agenda of the two leaders, reports TurkicWorld with the reference to Hurriyet Daily News.

Erdoğan and Scholz will meet in Berlin on Nov. 17 following their latest in-person meeting in September on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in India. The two leaders had agreed on Erdoğan’s visit after the Turkish president’s reelection in May polls.

In Berlin, Erdoğan is expected to meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as well. Erdoğan’s previous visit to Germany took place in 2020.

The visit comes as Israel continues its indiscriminate attacks against Gaza, which has already killed more than 10,000 civilians in the enclave, with most deaths being children and women. Türkiye is among the most vocal countries in slamming the Israeli government’s military offensive on Gaza, calling Israel and the Western countries for an immediate ceasefire.

Erdoğan, in a statement last week, hinted that the ongoing tension in the Middle East will be the most important issue in his talks with the German leader as Berlin has been in silence over the ongoing humanitarian tragedy in Gaza.

Germany, however, rejects the calls for a ceasefire and echoes the Israeli right to protect its citizens against Hamas, which the EU has designated as a terror organization. Türkiye challenges this categorization and says Hamas is a political organization that is fighting for the rights of the Palestinian people. However, Ankara also condemned the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that killed scores of civilians at the hands of the Hamas militants.

Another top issue the two leaders will discuss will be Türkiye’s long-stalled accession process to the European Union. The talks in Berlin come before the European Commission outlines a special report on the future of ties with Türkiye as the accession process has been de facto frozen due to the disagreements between Ankara and Brussels.

The talks are expected to focus on Türkiye’s demands of providing visa liberalization to Turkish nationals and starting negotiations for the modernization of the customs union. Germany is keen to continue and renew the 2016 migrant deal with Türkiye and focus on the transactional relationship with the Turkish government on security, energy and other issues to the joint interests of both sides.

Strict security measures in Berlin

In the meantime, according to the Turkish media, the German security forces will take extensive security measures in the capital city of Berlin during President Erdoğan’s stay. Some roads will be closed, and additional law enforcement will be dispatched to the city, according to the media.