German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will press Turkey to accept more rejected asylum seekers during his visit to Ankara this week as part of Berlin’s plan to increase deportations, a government source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday.
Merz, who took office in May, will travel to Turkey on Wednesday and meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Thursday. Their discussions will focus on migration, security and economic cooperation, according to German officials.
“Following initial progress in recent months, further concrete steps must now follow,” the government source said, referring to efforts to improve coordination on deportations.
Germany deported 17,651 people in the first nine months of 2025, up from 14,706 in the same period last year, official figures show. The largest group of deportees — 1,614 people — were Turkish citizens.
“Turkey is the country of origin with the highest number of people required to leave Germany,” the source said. “The government is therefore working to improve cooperation in the area of repatriation.”
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) said that as of the end of September, 22,560 Turkish nationals were awaiting deportation. Germany is home to around 3 million people of Turkish descent, the largest Turkish community outside Turkey.
Berlin is also seeking to resume deportations to Syria, which has been under new leadership since late 2024. A government spokesman said last week that the issue “also concerns our relationship with Turkey,” which maintains close ties with Damascus’s new rulers.
Since taking office Merz has introduced stricter border checks, tougher residence and citizenship rules and resumed deportations to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
The chancellor has faced criticism for recent remarks suggesting that migration was affecting the “image” of some German towns, comments that sparked protests and dissent within his governing coalition, which includes the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).
© Agence France-Presse