Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz is visiting Turkey on Monday to discuss bilateral relations with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his first visit to the country since he took office.
The trip is expected to be dominated by the war in Ukraine.
The two leaders will hold talks in the afternoon followed by dinner.
Scholz is scheduled to return to Berlin later Monday.
Ankara has emerged as one of the mediators in the Ukraine war, which erupted on Feb. 24 with Russia’s long-feared invasion of its neighbor. Turkey, a NATO member, enjoys close relations with both Ukraine and Russia.
On Thursday, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia, Dmytro Kuleba and Sergey Lavrov, met in Antalya for their first encounter since the war began.
The talks were largely inconclusive, but Turkey touted as a success the fact that they took place at all.
U.S. President Joe Biden thanked Erdoğan in a phone call and EU officials also praised the Turkish leader for bringing the warring sides together.
The Ukraine conflict has also brought Turkey closer with countries with which ties had been strained in recent years.
On Sunday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Erdoğan in Istanbul on his first trip to the country. Last week, Israeli President Isaac Herzog paid his first visit.
For Scholz, Monday will mark his fifth trip outside the European Union since he succeeded Angela Merkel in December. Previously, he had been to the United States, Ukraine, Russia and Israel.
Ankara and Berlin are major trading partners, as Germany has been a top Turkish import and export destination for decades. The two countries also share deep cultural ties due to the 5-million-strong Turkish diaspora in Germany. Turkey is among the top tourism destinations for Germans. It also hosts thousands of German expatriates. -Agencies
