Chancellor Angela Merkel made her farewell visit to Recep Tayyip Erdogan without a large delegation and without pomp.

As one might expect from her, it was not just a farewell visit, but also a working visit.

"We had an extensive conversation," she said dryly on Saturday.

Rainer Hermann

Editor in politics.

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Only five high-ranking employees from the Chancellery accompanied them on their three-hour program on the Bosporus.

The fact that Angela Merkel visits Turkey on her farewell dance reflects the self-confidence of the country and its president - but also the geostrategic importance of the difficult partner. 

It was clear to the cheerful Turkish President that an era is coming to an end for him too.

For sixteen years he has been in close dialogue with the Chancellor, said Erdogan, whom he sometimes addressed as "Ms. Merkel", sometimes with "Ms. Chancellor", while she spoke of Erdogan as "the President".

He was full of praise for his guest.

Merkel was always "prudent and solution-oriented" during the talks, he said.

There have been tense phases.

However, it has always been possible to overcome them and develop relationships.

Because the Chancellor took initiatives and always approached issues “positively”.

Now he hopes that the new German government will continue this cooperation and that its successor will act just like the Chancellor.

And he hoped, he added, that the international community would benefit from Ms. Merkel's experience in the future.

The location for the meeting couldn't have been more appropriate

Once Erdogan and Merkel interrupted their conversation, they stepped onto the balcony of the Turkish President's residence, and Erdogan showed the Chancellor the beauties of the Bosporus. The location of their last meeting could not have been more appropriate. Because the Huber Köskü, one of the residences of the Turkish President, borders directly on the historic summer residence of the German ambassadors in Turkey. The Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II donated the land for this to the German Empire in 1880. Shortly thereafter, the industrialist and arms dealer Auguste Huber, who represented the Krupp company and was thus a pillar of the German-Turkish brotherhood in arms, acquired the adjacent property.

Merkel went into this story briefly, but then quickly noted that she was critical of the human rights situation and individual freedoms in Turkey and that she was addressing this to Erdogan, for example the cases of German citizens who Turkey did not could leave. Some cases could have been resolved. But new ones are always being added. Because there are different assessments of what counts as terrorism and what is not.  

Merkel, who visited Turkey twelve times as Chancellor, knows about the human rights situation in Turkey, but she also knows about the geostrategic importance of the country. “Everyone knows from the other that our peace and our security depend to a certain extent on each other.” She could only advise - and she thinks that this will also be the case - that every future German government should improve relations between Germany and Turkey recognize in the entire complexity.

With regard to Afghanistan, Merkel demanded that humanitarian aid should now be provided there so that people would not also become victims of people smuggled and smuggled.

The UN organizations must be supported so that winter does not turn into a catastrophe for the people in Afghanistan.

She also exchanged views with Erdogan about the respective talks with the Taliban.

That should be continued.

Turkey is the only NATO country that still has an embassy in Kabul, and the Turkish ambassador is meeting with leading Taliban.

The Taliban's Deputy Foreign Minister was in Ankara on Thursday.