President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. Merkel said Germany regards the PKK as a banned militant organization but was not convinced it should treat the Gulen movement the same way.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is making his first state visit to Germany. President Erdogan met with the President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier first and later met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  

President Erdoğan and Merkel held a joint press conference after the working lunch.

"I am happy to be in Germany after 4 years. I thank President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany for his invitation and Chancellor Angela Merkel and German authorities for their hospitality," President Erdoğan said.

"We plan on fulfilling as soon as possible the 6 remaining criteria on visa liberalization. Providing visa liberalization, starting to update the Customs Union and revitalizing the admission negotiations are to the benefit of both Turkey and the EU. We hope this critical process will be carried forward without being subjected to certain circles' caprices and political obstructions," said President Erdoğan at the joint press conference with Chancellor Merkel of Germany.

Pointing to the recent developments in the relations between Turkiye and Germany, President Erdoğan stated that German Economy and Energy Minister Peter Altmaier, along with a large delegation of businesspeople, will pay a visit to Turkiye in October, and said, "We are in favor of preserving and further strengthening this momentum we have achieved through mutual high-level visits."

Recalling the July 15 coup attempt in Turkiye, President Erdoğan said that members of the FETO launched a coup attempt it but the putschists failed to suspend the strong Turkish democracy. "In the aftermath of the failed coup, we resorted to the state of emergency, which is a constitutional practice, in order to fight the FETO and its extensions."

"We have exerted great efforts for the last two years in order to save the Turkish democracy from the threat this terrorist organization posed, and we have succeeded to a significant extent," President Erdoğan noted.

"Following the June 24 elections, we lifted the state of emergency. With the presidential system of government, Turkiye is once again on the path of reform and progress."

"We plan on fulfilling as soon as possible the 6 remaining criteria on visa liberalization," President Erdoğan said. "Providing visa liberalization, starting to update the Customs Union and revitalizing the admission negotiations are to the benefit of both Turkiye and the EU. We hope this critical process will be carried forward without being subjected to certain circles' caprices and political obstructions. We attach great importance to Germany's support, which is one of the leading countries in Europe."

President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: "Turkiye undertakes serious responsibilities in regional issues, Syrian crisis in particular. We want the atrocities, which have been going on in our neighbor, Syria, for 7 years and have cost one million lives, to end as soon as possible. At this point, we have a similar approach with Germany. Here, I would like to express that I am glad to see Germany's sensitivity to the humanitarian aspect of the Syrian issue. During the acute period of the refugee crisis, Turkiye and Germany undertook responsibility and made serious sacrifices to ease the process."

President Erdoğan also said that they discussed Turkiye's expectations and requests from Germany for a more effective fight against terrorist organizations, the FETO, and PKK in particular.

Stating that Germany has an interest in an economically stable Turkiye, Chancellor Merkel said, "We want to further improve our cooperation in the fight against terror."

In answer to a question on whether the FETO would be declared a terrorist organization in Germany and what kinds of an approach would be adopted in the extradition of the members of the PKK terrorist organization, President Erdoğan pointed to the thousands of PKK and FETO members in Germany and said: "There is an extradition agreement between Turkiye and Germany. Apprehending and extraditing them is of utmost importance to our countries' security, peace, and happiness."

In response to a question on the fugitive Can Dündar, President Erdoğan said, "This person has been convicted by Turkish courts of being a spy and disclosing state secrets and sentenced to 5 years 10 months in prison. It is a crime to reveal state secrets in all countries."

Pointing to the extradition agreement between Turkiye and Germany, President Erdoğan said it was Turkiye's most basic natural right to request such a convicted felon's extradition. (ILKHA)