Turkey’s Erdogan has said there is “no problem” with the EU and Germany after a rough-and-tumble year. He also commended EU countries for their stance against the US decision on Jerusalem.
“We certainly desire good relations with the EU and EU countries,” Erdogan told journalists aboard a flight back from a four-day trip to Sudan, Chad and Tunisia.
Ties between the Brussels and Ankara have steadily deteriorated over the past two years, with Turkey’s morbid EU accession process all but halted over deteriorating human rights and rule of law.
Turkey and Germany careened from crisis to crisis in 2017 as relations hit rock bottom over a series of issues.
“There is an expression that I always say. We need to reduce our enemies and increase our friends,” Erdogan said.
“We don’t have a problem with Germany, the Netherlands or Belgium. It’s exactly the opposite, the leaders of those countries are old friends of mine,” Erdogan said. “They did some wrong things to me, but that’s a different matter.”
Tensions between Berlin and Ankara have eased somewhat recently after the release from prison of a number of German nationals. But relations are still plagued by a war of words earlier this year and serious disputes, including the continued detention of Die Welt correspondent Deniz Yucel on trumped-up terrorism charges in Turkey.
Erdogan said that he may visit Germany, the Netherlands, France and the Vatican.
Focus shifts to Jerusalem
Erdogan said there were problems with the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium but “our last discussions have been quite good.”