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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has invited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Berlin (photo taken on 20 September 2022)
Photo: IMAGO/Turkish presidency \ apaimages / IMAGO/APAimages
Chancellor Olaf Scholz congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on his re-election in a telephone call. According to government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, the SPD politician made clear the close ties between Germany and Turkey, not least as common allies in the NATO military alliance.
"Both agreed to approach the cooperation between the two governments with renewed vigour and to agree on common priorities at an early stage." According to Hebestreit, they want to work together, among other things, on a good development in the eastern Mediterranean, on the decisions currently pending in NATO and on Turkey's relationship with the European Union. To this end, the Federal Chancellor had invited the Turkish President to make an inaugural visit to Berlin.
The 69-year-old Erdoğan won the run-off election against opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on Sunday – but only by a narrow margin. The Islamic-conservative incumbent was re-elected for another five years. International election observers criticized Erdoğan for having had "unfair advantages" in the election. For example, he used public funds for election campaign purposes. Public broadcasters would also have clearly favored the incumbent.
jso/dpa/AFP