Seven German and seven Turkish flags, placed alternately, formed the background.

In front of it, Olaf Scholz and Recep Tayyip Erdogan stood at brown desks on a stage in a large conference room in the Turkish presidential palace.

The German Chancellor flew to Ankara on Monday for a short visit.

Eckhart Lohse

Head of the parliamentary editorial office in Berlin.

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Scholz and Erdogan spoke to each other for a long time, and in the press conference that followed, both immediately spoke of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Erdogan and he are in complete agreement in condemning Russia's military action in Ukraine, said the Chancellor.

There must be a ceasefire, there must be corridors for people who are fleeing.

"With every day, with every bomb, Russia is moving further away from the world community," said Scholz, adding in the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin: "Hold on."

Erdogan reiterated that there must be further diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

However, Ankara's friendship with Ukraine and Russia will remain.

The President noted that his country helped Ukraine.

Erdogan remained ambiguous about the sanctions.

Scholz thanked his host for speaking to Israel and Greece, for example.

Erdogan as a mediator, as is sometimes suggested as a possibility?

The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine recently met in Turkey.

Berlin does not seem to think much of the idea of ​​a single mediator, a person who could make substantial progress towards pacifying the war between Russia and Ukraine.

But you can see the role that countries can play.

Immediately before the outbreak of war, Chancellor Scholz was in Washington, Germany's most important security policy partner, and in the capitals of Ukraine and Russia.

But soon after the war broke out, he flew to Israel, now Turkey.

Even without speaking of a mediating role: These countries have the advantage of not only having dialogue but also many other contacts with both warring parties.

And so Scholz was able to combine his inaugural visits there as Chancellor with efforts to contain the conflict through talks.

So on Monday Ankara.

It was at least as cold as in Berlin when the Chancellor arrived in the Turkish capital for a short visit at noon.

The wind did the rest.

Erdogan gave the guest from Germany a reception with military honors in his huge presidential palace.

He had planned it himself, and the numerous buildings on the extensive site combine Seljuk and neo-Ottoman elements.

When the palace was inaugurated in 2014, Turkish media drew comparisons to the White House, Buckingham Palace and the Elysee Palace.

The Chancellery doesn't come close to Erdogan's palace when it comes to pomp.

Turkish arms purchases in Russia 

As a NATO member, Ankara is contractually bound to the Western defense alliance, which wants to prevent the war in Ukraine from spreading to NATO territory.

Even Turkey, which already has enough to do with the Syrian conflict in its south, has no interest in the current war in Europe.

Weeks before the war, Erdogan said: “We express our support for Ukraine's territorial integrity.

And we invite all parties to exercise restraint and dialogue.” After the attack, Ankara took the line “not to accept any steps to violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.

Turkey's leadership had repeatedly condemned the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

It took some time, but finally Turkey also blocked access to the Black Sea.

The 1963 Treaty of Montreux gave Ankara the right to close the Dardanelles and Bosphorus to warships.

That has happened now.

Scholz expressly thanked Erdogan for this on Monday.

On the other hand, Turkey buys Russian weapons, such as anti-aircraft missiles.

This is met with displeasure in the North Atlantic Alliance.

Erdogan did not want to fundamentally rule out buying more weapons on Monday.

However, Ankara not only purchases arms from Russia, but also a significant amount of gas.

About a third of Turkey's annual gas requirements come from Russia.

And Turkey covers not quite 20 percent of its oil needs with deliveries from Russia.

Trade between the two countries is significantly larger than that between Turkey and Ukraine.

Deliveries of wheat from Russia to Turkey far exceed the quantities coming from Ukraine.

Erdogan has not broken off talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On the other hand, ties with Ukraine are also close.

So, Kyiv bought not only Turkish drones.

Rather, both countries develop and build drones and engines together.

Erdogan points out that relations with Ukraine in trade, tourism and the defense industry have developed strongly in recent years.