The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, staged their differences on the conflict in the Middle East this Friday in Berlin. Erdogan criticized Israel for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in bombings in Gaza during a joint appearance with Scholz, who reiterated Germany’s support for “Israel’s right to defend itself after the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas” on October 7. The Turkish president spent a few hours on Friday visiting the German capital, a trip planned months before the outbreak of the current crisis in the Middle East and which therefore occurred at an inopportune moment for Germany, a firm ally of Israel.
“Bombing hospitals or killing children is not in the Torah,” said Erdogan, referring to the Jewish holy book, after Scholz had said that the German government is also concerned about the “suffering of the Palestinian civilian population.” Addressing Erdogan from his lectern in the Chancellery, Scholz said that “it is no secret” that “we have different, sometimes very different, perspectives on the current conflict,” and that “direct conversations are needed in difficult moments.”
The German called not to question Israel’s right to defend itself and described Israel’s “right to exist” as “irrefutable.” At another point in the appearance, Erdogan alluded to a “psychology of guilt” – without mentioning countries, but clearly in reference to Germany – that would explain support for Israel, while “Turkey does not have any debt with Israel.” The Turk denied any anti-Semitic connotations in his criticism of Israel. “For us, there should be no discrimination between Jews, Christians and Muslims in the region; “I am the first to lead the fight against anti-Semitism,” he assured.
Despite the disagreements expressed, the appearance passed with serenity on the part of both leaders, who then retired for talks in the Chancellery, within the framework of a trip of a few hours to Berlin that the German Government viewed with discomfort.
On Wednesday in a speech to Turkish deputies in Ankara, Erdogan had described Israel as a “terrorist state” with “unlimited support” from the West, and described Hamas – considered a terrorist organization by the EU and the United States – as “ liberation organization. And a week ago, the Turkish leader assured that Israel’s legitimacy as a state was “questioned because of its own fascism.”
Despite this background, the German hosts did not want to postpone the meeting, since Chancellor Scholz had invited Erdogan after he was re-elected as president in May, and preparations began in the summer. For Germany, which considers the existence of Israel a “reason of state,” receiving a foreign leader who only a few days ago made such statements has been a balancing act.
In the end, Erdogan himself said in Berlin what he wanted to say to convey his message, but he was careful not to repeat the phrases he had used in Turkey. Scholz said that the two-state solution is still the best, and Erdogan agreed but specified that with the 1967 borders, that is, those before the Six-Day War, after which Israel occupied new territories.
Before the meeting with Scholz, the Turkish president was received at Bellevue Palace by his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Despite the authoritarian drift of the Turkish president, his growing geopolitical influence makes him a difficult but essential interlocutor for Berlin.
Europe’s first economy is home to a Turkish diaspora of 2.8 million people, including some 1.5 million eligible to vote in Turkey, most of whom support Erdogan. Germany, and the EU in general, need Erdogan to maintain and renew the pact signed in 2016 to contain the flow of migrants to Europe.
Sweden’s entry into NATO depends on Turkey – and to a lesser extent, Hungary – and the Turkish Parliament postponed the vote once again this week. Erdogan’s intervention turned out to be key to organizing the Ukrainian grain export route through the Black Sea, a route that Russia ended up liquidating. And it is assumed that Turkey will play an important role in any attempt to stop the current bloody conflict in the Middle East.
