German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will pay a visit to Ankara on Wednesday, the last stop on his three-day tour of the Middle East, according to Turkish and German media.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, announced on X on Tuesday that Erdoğan and Steinmeier would discuss bilateral relations, the possibility of cooperation in the defense industry and the Turkish diaspora in Germany in addition to an exchange of views on Turkey-EU relations and current regional issues.
Altun said Steinmeier’s visit is expected to strengthen the “deep-rooted and long-established” bilateral relations between Turkey and Germany.
According to Deutschlandfunk, a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, Steinmeier, who met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh at the start of his tour on Monday, was to travel to Jordan on Tuesday to meet with Jordanian King Abdullah II and visit the German troops stationed at Al-Azraq Airbase.
His visit to Turkey on Wednesday will take place one day after Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president, arrived in Ankara for talks with President Erdoğan, his second international trip since ousting President Bashar al-Assad.
According to Deutsche Welle, Steinmeier is also expected to discuss plans to stabilize the war-torn country with Erdoğan.
Turkey, which is currently home to some 3 million Syrian refugees, has seen its influence in the region rise following the fall of Assad.
Steinmeier visited Turkey in April of last year for the first time since his election as president in 2017.
Germany is also home to the largest Turkish diaspora worldwide, with a majority of Turkish nationals in the country supporting Erdoğan.