German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conceded little ground on issues dividing their countries after meeting Friday, but stressed the importance of the two NATO allies working together as they sought to improve acrimonious relations.
The two nations have clashed over numerous issues in recent years, including Turkey’s jailing of German journalists and a German parliament resolution labeling the early-20th century killing of Armenians in Turkey as genocide. Turkey vehemently denies that the massacre was genocide and insists it was part of the violence during World War I.
The rhetoric escalated to the point where Erdogan called Germany’s mainstream parties “enemies of Turkey” and accused German officials of acting like Nazis, prompting Merkel to condemn the Turkish president’s words.
Erdogan ignored a question Friday about whether he had apologized for the Nazi comment. He instead doubled down on his demand for closer cooperation from Germany against groups that Turkey considers terrorist organizations, including Kurdish rebels and people with alleged links to a failed 2016 coup in Turkey.
Erdogan alleged that thousands of Kurdish militants and hundreds of people with suspected links to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen are living in Germany. Turkey accuses Gulen of orchestrating the coup attempt, which he denies.
“With the mutual trust we have for each other, I believe the handing over of (suspects) would make our work easier,” Erdogan said.
Merkel noted that Germany considers the PKK Kurdish rebel group a terrorist organization and prosecutes its members, and said German authorities take Erdogan’s information on Gulen seriously “but we need more material – what we have is not enough for a similar status to the PKK.”
She also criticized the Turkish prosecution of journalists and others, detaining some for months without charges.
“It is no secret to anyone that there have been deep differences in our relationship in recent years, and that there still are,” she said. “That largely has to do with questions of the rule of law, with questions of press freedom.”
Erdogan said he has no right to criticize the German judiciary and Germany has no right to criticize the Turkish judicial system.