Merkel's farewell visit to Erdoğan: 'EU should support Turkey against human trafficking'

Photo: AA

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Germany's Chancellor Merkel, who will leave office after 16 years in power, visited President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in İstanbul today (October 16).

The two leaders held a joint press conference after the meeting at Huber Mansion, a presidential house on the European side of the Bosphorus.

Merkel said at the conference that he European Union's (EU) support to Turkey to prevent "irregular migration" and human trafficking should continue.

"We want to prevent human trafficking. It is essential ... for the EU to support Turkey in this regard," she remarked in response to a question about the Turkey-EU deal on Syrian refugees. As part of the deal that has been in place for five years, Turkey keeps refugees from heading to European countries in exchange for financial support.

Merkel also called for Erdoğan's cooperation to prevent a new refugee wave from Afghanistan, where the Taliban took over in August.

She stressed that Turkey and Germany always have common interests, and added that this would be how the next federal government will see it.

Kanzlerin #Merkel wird in Istanbul von Präsident @RTErdogan empfangen. Die Gespräche finden im historischen Stadtteil Tarabya am Bosporus statt. pic.twitter.com/g8xskM3MUQ

— Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecher) October 16, 2021

"A guesthouse for refugees"

For his part, Erdoğan said even though there were difficult periods in bilateral relations, he and Merkel had always managed to overcome them and improve cooperation.

"Our close dialogue with Ms. Merkel made serious contributions in not only bilateral issues but also to develop solutions to regional issues," the president remarked. "On behalf of myself and my nation, I would like to thank Ms. Chancellor for her sincere efforts, especially for the solution of the Syrian crisis."

Turkey is a guesthouse for refugees, the president said. "As you know, there are five million from Syria, there are from Iraq, there are 300,000 from Afghanistan. We continue to host all of these."

Erdoğan also warned against "Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism against the Turkish community in Europe."

"Turkish community in Germany makes up our common wealth and it holds important social aspect of our relations," he remarked. (RT/VK)