German–Turkish relations (; ) have their beginnings in the times of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

and have culminated in the development of strong bonds with many facets that include economic, military, cultural and social relations. With

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

as a candidate for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

, of which

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

is the 2nd biggest member, and the existence of a significant

Turkish diaspora in Germany Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

, these relations have become more and more intertwined over the decades. Relations with Turkey significantly deteriorated after the 2016–17 Turkish purges including the arrest of journalists such as ''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the '' Frankfurter ...

''s Deniz Yücel.

History

Sommerhaus der dt botschaft in tarabya istanbul

Medieval and Early Modern periods

Wars between the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
and
Sultanate of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254) Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = B ...

* Crusade of 1101 (1101) * Battle of Dorylaeum (1147) * Battle of Philomelion (1190) * Battle of Iconium (1190)

Wars between the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
and
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

Battle of Nicopolis The Battle of Nicopolis took place on 25 September 1396 and resulted in the rout of an allied crusader army of Hungarian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, French, Burgundian, German, and assorted troops (assisted by the Venetian navy) at t ...

(1396) *

Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...

(1526) * First Turkish Siege of Vienna (1529) *

Little War in Hungary Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

(1530–1552) *

Italian War of 1536–38 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

* Siege of Buda (1541) *

Italian War of 1542–46 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

* Siege of Esztergom (1543) * Siege of Nice (1543) *

Italian War of 1551–59 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional ...

Long Turkish War The Long Turkish War or Thirteen Years' War was an indecisive land war between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, primarily over the Principalities of Wallachia, Transylvania, and Moldavia. It was waged from 1593 to 1606 but in Europ ...

(1591–1606) * Turkish Siege of Érsekújvár (1663) * Battle of Saint Gotthard (1664) *

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War (german: Großer Türkenkrieg), also called the Wars of the Holy League ( tr, Kutsal İttifak Savaşları), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Pola ...

(1683–1699) *

Second Turkish Siege of Vienna The Battle of Vienna; pl, odsiecz wiedeńska, lit=Relief of Vienna or ''bitwa pod Wiedniem''; ota, Beç Ḳalʿası Muḥāṣarası, lit=siege of Beç; tr, İkinci Viyana Kuşatması, lit=second siege of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mou ...

(1683) *

Battle of Párkány The Battle of Párkány ( tr, Ciğerdelen Savaşı) was a battle fought between October 7–9, 1683 in the town of Párkány (today: Štúrovo), in the Ottoman Empire, and the area surrounding it as part of the Polish-Ottoman War and the Great ...

(1683) * First Holy League Siege of Buda (1684) * Holy League Siege of Érsekújvár (1685) * Second Holy League Siege of Buda (1686) *

Siege of Pécs The siege of Pécs was fought from 14 to 22 October 1686, in the city of Pécs in southwestern Hungary, between the armies of the Ottoman Empire and of the Holy Roman Empire. After the castle of Buda was wrested from Ottoman rule in 1686, the Aus ...

(1686) * Second Battle of Mohács (1687) * Holy League Siege of Belgrade (1688) * Turkish Siege of Belgrade (1690) *

Battle of Slankamen The Battle of Slankamen was fought on 19 August 1691, near Slankamen in the Ottoman Sanjak of Syrmia (modern-day Vojvodina, Serbia), between the Ottoman Empire, and Habsburg Austrian forces during the Great Turkish War. The battle saw a T ...

(1691) *

Battle of Lugos The Battle of Lugos was fought on 21 September 1695 near the city of Lugos in the East Banat, between the forces of the Ottoman Empire, and the forces of the Habsburg monarchy as part of the Great Turkish War. Background By 1695 the Ottoman Emp ...

(1695) *

Battle of Ulaş The Battle of Olasch (also Ólas, Ulaş, Olaschin) took place after a Habsburg Imperial army led by Saxon Elector General, Augustus II the Strong, laid siege to Turkish held Temesvár. On 26 August 1696, after learning that Sultan Mustafa II ...

(1696) *

Battle of Zenta The Battle of Zenta, also known as the Battle of Senta, was fought on 11 September 1697, near Zenta, Ottoman Empire (modern-day Senta, Serbia), between Ottoman and Holy League armies during the Great Turkish War. The battle was the most de ...

(1697)

Late 19th century and World War I

Ahmed Cemal Paşa and Erich von Falkenhayn

Baghdad Railway Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

* Ottoman–German Alliance *

Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau The pursuit of ''Goeben'' and ''Breslau'' was a naval action that occurred in the Mediterranean Sea at the outbreak of the First World War when elements of the British Mediterranean Fleet attempted to intercept the German '' Mittelmeerdivision' ...

Middle Eastern theatre of World War I The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I saw action between 29 October 1914 and 30 October 1918. The combatants were, on one side, the Ottoman Empire (including the majority of Kurdish tribes, a relative majority of Arabs, and Caucasian ''T ...

Germany's role in the Armenian Genocide During World War I, Imperial Germany was a military ally of the Ottoman Empire, which perpetrated the Armenian genocide. Many Germans present in eastern and southern Anatolia witnessed the genocide, but censorship and self-censorship hampered the ...

The German proposals to build a railway system toward Baghdad alarmed the British, for it threatened British control over the links to India. However, these issues were peacefully resolved in February 1914, and did not play a role in the

July Crisis The July Crisis was a series of interrelated diplomatic and military escalations among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914, which led to the outbreak of World War I (1914–1918). The crisis began on 28 June 1914, when Gavrilo Pri ...

that ended in the Great War. The Ottoman–German Alliance was an alliance between the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

and the Ottoman Empire made on August 2, 1914, shortly following the outbreak of World War I. The alliance was created as part of a joint-cooperative effort that would strengthen and modernize the failing Ottoman military, as well as provide Germany safe passage into neighboring British colonies. The treaty came from the initiative of the Ottomans. It was replaced in January 1915 by a full-scale military alliance that promised Ottoman entry into the war. The

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in W ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

would eventually be made up of both the Germans and the Ottomans, as well as the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. German General

Otto Liman von Sanders Otto Viktor Karl Liman von Sanders (; 17 February 1855 – 22 August 1929) was an Imperial German Army general who served as a military adviser to the Ottoman Army during the First World War. In 1918 he commanded an Ottoman army during the Sin ...

was given command of the Ottoman Fifth Army defending

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...

. Generals

Erich von Falkenhayn General Erich Georg Sebastian Anton von Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 – 8 April 1922) was the second Chief of the German General Staff of the First World War from September 1914 until 29 August 1916. He was removed on 29 August 1916 after ...

and Otto Liman von Sanders commanded the Ottoman Yildirim Army during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign.

World War II

German-Turkish Treaty of Friendship and Non-Aggression

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Turkey maintained diplomatic relations with Germany until August 1944. The

German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship The German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship (german: Türkisch-Deutscher Freundschaftsvertrag, tr, Türk-Alman Dostluk Paktı) was a non-aggression pact signed between Nazi Germany and Turkey on 18 June 1941 in Ankara by German ambassador to Turke ...

was signed on 18 June 1941. In October 1941, the "Clodius Agreement" (named after the German negotiator, Dr. Carl August Clodius) was achieved, whereby Turkey would export up 45,000 tons of

chromite Chromite is a crystalline mineral composed primarily of iron(II) oxide and chromium(III) oxide compounds. It can be represented by the chemical formula of FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. The element magnesium can ...

ore to Germany in 1941–1942, and 90,000 tons of the mineral in each of 1943 and 1944, contingent on Germany's supplies of military equipment to Turkey. The Germans provided as many as 117 railway locomotives and 1,250 freight rail cars to transport the ore. In an attempt to prevent the supply of this strategic mineral to Germany, the United States and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

went on a spree of what was termed " preclusive buying," buying out Turkish chromite even if they did not need so much of it. As a part of the "package deal," the Anglo-Americans bought Turkish dried fruit and tobacco as well.Allied Relations and Negotiations With Turkey

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

, pp. 6-8 In August 1944, the Soviet Army entered Bulgaria and cut overland contact between Turkey and the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

. Turkey severed its diplomatic and commercial relations with Germany, and on February 23, 1945, declared war on Germany.

Political relations

Accession of Turkey to the European Union

Germany's support to the Turkish bid has not been consistent in the German political arena. Support has varied over time; for example one former Chancellor,

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...

, expressed opposition on the issue, while another,

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

, was seen to be a staunch supporter. Modern Istanbul skyline

German Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

advocated a "vaguely defined partnership" and has opposed full membership of Turkey to the EU. Current Turkish Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to ...

said in response in July 2009, "We will never accept a privileged partnership. We want full membership into the EU. We don't want anything else other than full membership.” In 2006, Merkel said "Turkey could be in deep, deep trouble when it comes to its aspirations to join the European Union" regarding its refusal to open up its ports to European Union member

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

. She added:

We need an implementation of the Ankara Protocols regarding unrestricted trade with Cyprus too. Otherwise, the situation becomes very, very serious when it comes to the continuation of Turkey's accession negotiations. I appeal to Turkey to do everything to avoid such a complicated situation and not to lead the European Union into such a situation.

Merkel also said that she could not imagine negotiations continuing without concessions made by Ankara toward opening up its ports to Cypriot ships. The Turkish Government responded by demanding that the EU lift its embargo on the Turkish-controlled part of the island in return. On 20 June 2013, in the wake of

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

's crackdown on mass demonstrations in

Taksim Square Taksim Square ( tr, Taksim Meydanı, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the ...

and throughout the country, Germany blocked the start to new EU accession talks with

. According to the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', one Turkish official said that such a move could potentially break off political relations with the

bloc Bloc may refer to: Government and politics * Political bloc, a coalition of political parties * Trade bloc, a type of intergovernmental agreement * Voting bloc, a group of voters voting together Other uses * Bloc (code school), an educational ...

. "The EU needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the EU,"

Egemen Bagis Egemen Necmi Kocaoglu (Kyrgyz: ''Egement'', English: ''Independence'') was an organization in Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to th ...

, Turkey's EU minister stated. "If we have to, we could tell them, "get lost.'" Germany says that its reservation stems from a technical issue, but Angela Merkel has described herself as "shocked" after Ankara's use of overwhelming police force against mostly peaceful demonstrators. On 25 June EU foreign ministers backed a German proposal to postpone further EU membership talks with Turkey for about four months due to the Turkey's handling of the protests. A delay in opening new chapters for Turkey would raise new doubts about whether the country should ever be admitted to the European Union. In early June in comments on Turkey's possible membership German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not address the compromise proposal but said Turkey must make progress on its relations with EU member

to give impetus to its membership ambitions.

EU sanctions

In December 2020, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was among the EU leaders who opposed sanctions against Turkey, due to its gas drilling activities in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

and foreign policy in general.

Diplomatic incidents

In August 2018, German firemen removed a four-meter golden statue of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

on security grounds after it provoked an angry response from local people. In April 2022, Turkey condemned Germany's summoning of its ambassador and called in Germany’s ambassador

Jürgen Schulz Jürgen Schulz (born 6 October 1952) is a retired German footballer. Schulz played a record 244 games (67 of which in the Fußball-Bundesliga) for Tennis Borussia Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in the locality ...

in a tit-for-tat move amid a row over the jailing of Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala for life after being convicted of trying to overthrow the government by financing protests. In May 2022, Foreign Minister

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (; born 5 February 1968) is a Turkish diplomat and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey since 24 November 2015. He previously served in the same position from August 2014 to August 2015. He is ...

summoned the German and French ambassadors to Turkey to protest events organized by the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(PKK) in both countries. In July 2022, the website of ''

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service cons ...

'' (DW) was blocked by an Ankara court after it refused to comply with a request to obtain a broadcast licence; DW had argued that being overseen by the country’s broadcast regulator would lead to demands that would be tantamount to censorship.

State visits

Istanbul - German Fountain - medallions - P1030874

In 2006,

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

visited Turkey for talks with Prime Minister

on bilateral relations and to discuss accession of Turkey to the EU. In 2008, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Berlin and met Chancellor Merkel, and also visited

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

. He suggested during the visit that the German government establish Turkish medium schools and that German high schools hire more teachers from Turkey. In 2011, Prime Minister

made another visit to

During a speech in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

, he urged

Turks in Germany Turks in Germany, also referred to as German Turks and Turkish Germans (german: Türken in Deutschland/Deutschtürken; tr, Almanya'da yaşayan Türkler/Almanya Türkleri), are ethnic Turkish people living in Germany. These terms are also used t ...

, to integrate, but not assimilate, a statement that caused a political outcry in Germany. In 2018 in advance of the Erdogan state visit, the Erdogan Not Welcome association organised protest demonstrations with about 80-200 participants in Berlin, Essen and Bielefeld. For Erdogan's supporters in Turkey and abroad, the most significant event was the opening of a new multimillion-euro mega mosque in the cathedral city of Cologne. The mosque is run by the

DITIB The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB; german: Türkisch-Islamische Union der Anstalt für Religion e.V.; tr, Diyanet İşleri Türk-İslam Birliği) is one of the largest Islamic organisations in Germany. Founded in 1984 ...

, an Islamic organization in Germany controlled by the Turkish government. I is situated in the Ehrenfeld district of Cologne, also collquially known as "Little Istanbul". The visit prompted criticism towards German president

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017. He was previously Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as Vice Chan ...

who hosted a state banquet. from Deniz Yucel, a German-Turkish journalist who was jailed for a year in Turkey. Yucel called the visit a betrayal of all those who longed for a free, democratic and secular society in Turkey. German authorities warned Erdogan from using the visit for public campaigning.

Economic relations

Germany and Turkey have held strong economic ties with one another throughout time. Machinery, electrical goods and motor vehicles and supply parts for the automobile industry account for a particularly large portion of German exports to Turkey. Textiles/leather goods and food, and increasingly motor vehicles and electronic goods, are the principal German imports from Turkey. At present, companies owned by Turkish businessmen in Germany employ approximately 200 thousand people. The annual turnover of these companies has reached 45 billion marks. More than three million German tourists visit Turkey annually. More than 4000 German companies are active in Turkey. Germany has turned out to be the number one partner of Turkey in fields such as foreign trade, financial and technical cooperation, tourism and defense industry. In 2020, Germany was the biggest trade partner of Turkey, they had a bilateral trade volume of $38 billion. German companies invested nearly €25 billion in Turkey's energy sector.

Arms deals

German Emperor

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

visited Istanbul in 1889 to secure the sale of German-made rifles to the Ottoman Army. Turkey is an operator of the German

Type 214 submarine The Type 214 is a diesel-electric submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW). It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system using Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell ...

. Moreover, Turkish Altay tanks rely on German MTU engines and RENK transmissions. Germany had also provided technical assistance in developing and operating drones, Leopard tank 2A4,

KORKUT : Korkut ( ku, Têlî), is a district and eponymous city center of Muş Province of Turkey. The mayor is Haşim Arık ( AKP). History Human settlement of the area is at least 10,000 years. Korkut has a tell from which the town derived its old name ...

anti-aircraft system, PorSav missiles,

MILGEM MILGEM project is a national warship program of the Republic of Turkey. Managed by the Turkish Navy, the project aims at developing multipurpose corvettes, frigates and destroyers that can be deployed in a range of missions, including reconnaissa ...

warship,

Airbus A400M Atlas The Airbus A400M AtlasNamed after the Greek mythological figure. is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military (now Airbus Defence and Space) as a tactical airlifter with strategic capab ...

and MEKO frigates. As of July 2021, six German submarines were to be delivered to Turkey in 2022, in addition to five other ''Reis-class'' submarines in the next few years in a deal worth around $4 billion.

Relationship between Turkish and German political parties

HDP and German green party

In May 2015, the German party

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

encouraged Turkish citizens living in Germany to vote for the Turkish Party HDP in the upcoming June 2015 Turkish general election. The MP

Cem Özdemir Cem Özdemir (, ; born 21 December 1965) is a German politician who currently serves as Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture since 2021. He is a member of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. Between 2008 and 2018, Özdemir co-chaired the G ...

of the Green Party, a prominent opponent of the politics of Turkish president

, was given a personal security detail of three agents at the

Munich Security Conference The Munich Security Conference (MSC; german: Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz) is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963. Former names are ''Wehrkundetagung'' and ''Münchner ...

in 2018, after the Turkish security detail allegedly has identified him as a terrorist.

AKP and CDU

On 16 February 2004,

, then chairwoman of the German opposition party CDU, met with representatives of the ruling Turkish party AKP. The press response was somewhat perplexing, as for example, the German magazine ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' first reported of a "Anti-Türkei-Reise"'' (Anti-Turkey-voyage)'' and only hours later that "CDU will mit islamischer AKP kooperieren" '' (CDU wants to cooperate with Islamic AKP)''. On 31 July 2016, the German Sunday newspaper

Bild am Sonntag ''Bild am Sonntag'' (''BamS'') is the largest-selling German national Sunday newspaper published in Berlin, Germany. History and profile ''Bild am Sonntag'' was first published on 29 April 1956.Helmut Böger, ''Bild'', 8 May 2011Die Story von Ba ...

reported, that the "Union der Vielfalt", a group of members of the CDU warned the party leadership against infiltration from the AKP.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and FDP politician Wolfgang Kubicki

In September 2022, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has filed a lawsuit against Free Democratic Party (FDP) politician and Vice-President of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Comm ...

Wolfgang Kubicki Wolfgang Kubicki (born 3 March 1952) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) and member of the Bundestag from 1990 until 1992 and 2017 onwards. He has been vice chairman of the FDP in Germany since December 2013. Sin ...

for allegedly having insulted him.

Turkish diaspora

With an estimated number of at least 2.1 million

, they form the largest ethnic minority. The vast majority are found in Western Germany. Based on good Turkish-German relations from the 19th century onwards, Germany promoted a Turkish immigration to Germany. However, large scale didn't occur until the 20th century. Germany suffered an acute labor shortage after

and, in 1961, the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

(West Germany) officially invited Turkish workers to Germany to fill in this void, particularly to work in the factories that helped fuel Germany's economic miracle. The German authorities named these people ''

Gastarbeiter (; both singular and plural; ) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally consider ...

'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for ''guest workers''). Most Turks in Germany trace their ancestry to Central and Eastern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. Today, Turks are Germany's largest ethnic minority and form most of Germany's Muslim minority.

Turkey's purges

2017-07-06-Cosmo - Wir wollen das Meer sehen-3319

On August 14, 2018, Turkish police arrested another

citizen on terrorism-related charges. German authorities said nine German nationals were in detention in Turkey for "political reasons" at that time. In October 2018, Germany has warned citizens visiting Turkey to be extra cautious about their social media feeds in response to a spate of cases of Germans arrested for criticism of the Turkish government. “In some cases merely ‘liking’ another's post of that nature is enough,” The Germany Foreign Ministry said that even private comments could be risky. “Non-public comments on social media can be forwarded to Turkish authorities via denunciations,”

Turkish espionage in Germany

In July 2015, ''

Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, ...

'' newspaper reported that German federal prosecutors were looking into claims that three men - two Turks and a German national - were instructed by MIT to spy on Erdogan critics in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, particularly

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...

and members of the Muslim minority

Alevi Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...

community. In 2016, Bundestag Parliamentary Oversight Panel members demanded answer from German government about the reports that Germans of Turkish origin are being pressured in Germany by informers and officers of Turkey's

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

intelligence agency. According to reports Turkey had 6,000 informants plus MIT officers in Germany who were putting pressure on "German Turks".

Hans-Christian Ströbele Hans-Christian Ströbele (; 7 June 1939 – 29 August 2022) was a German politician and lawyer. He was a member of Alliance 90/The Greens, the German green party. Education and early career Ströbele was born on 7 June 1939 in Halle, Saale, ...

told that there was an "unbelievable" level of "secret activities" in Germany by Turkey's MIT agency. According to Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, not even the former communist

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maintaining state autho ...

secret police had managed to run such a large "army of agents" in the former

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

: "Here, it's not just about intelligence gathering, but increasingly about intelligence service repression." German lawmakers have called for an investigation, charging that Turkey is spying on suspected Gulen followers in Germany. In March 2017, the Turkish secret intelligence service

was accused of conducting espionage of more than 300 people and 200 associations and schools linked to supporters of exiled

Fethullah Gülen Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (born 27 April 1941) is a Turkish Islamic scholar, preacher, and a one-time opinion leader, as de facto leader of the Gülen movement. Gülen is designated an influential neo-Ottomanist, Anatolian panethnicist, Isl ...

. Boris Pistorius, interior minister for

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

State, called this "intolerable and unacceptable", stating that "the intensity and ruthlessness with which people abroad are being investigated is remarkable". A German security official said that "we are horrified at how openly Turkey reveals that it is spying on Turks living here". On 30 March 2017 Interior Minister

Thomas de Maiziere Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

expresses suspicions that the move may have been intended to weigh on Turkish-German relations − "to provoke us in some way". The appallment was deepened when it was revealed that the 300 persons included politicians, including Michelle Müntefering. In October 2017, according to German press reports officials working in Germany's immigration authorities pass on information about Turkish asylum seekers to Turkey. In many cases, even their locations were also revealed, that even their families did not know for security reasons. These incidents showed that Turkish spies may have infiltrated German authorities. In addition,

Herbert Reul Herbert Reul (born, 31 August 1952) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as State Minister for Internal Affairs in the government of successive Ministers-President Armin Laschet (2017–2021) and ...

, the interior minister for the German state of the

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

, submitted a report to the state parliament, alleging that the Turkish-German organisation ''

Osmanen Germania Osmanen Germania or Osmanen Germania BC (OGBC) was a Turkish-nationalistic and extreme right criminal gang in Germany. It was formed some time between late 2014 and April 2015 and banned by the Federal Ministry of the Interior under Horst Seehofe ...

'' works with MIT. The organisation denied the accusations. In July 2018, Germany banned the organisation on allegations it is involved in organized crime and represents a threat to the general public. In October 2021, German authorities arrested a Turk in a hotel at

for spying on behalf of Turkey. Police found a pistol, ammunition and a list with the names Gulen supporters.

Operation Irini

A Turkish freighter intercepted by German frigate Hamburg on 23 October 2020 with citing arms embargo to Libya. However, according to German officials, there was nothing about arms and allowed the passing of the ship. Turkish officials stated that this is a violation of maritime laws because Germany did it without permission from Turkey.

Resident diplomatic missions

;Germany *

(Embassy) In 1923 the embassy was moved from

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

to Ankara. The embassy houses offices and official apartments, as well as the residence of the German ambassador since 1928. *

(Consulate-General) Following the relocation of the embassy to Ankara in 1923 the former embassy building in the

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (, ota, بك‌اوغلی, script=Arab) is a district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city (historic peninsula of Constantinople) by the Golden Horn. It was known as the region of Pera (Πέρα, mea ...

district of Istanbul houses the Consulate General and the German Archaeological Institute. * Izmir (Consulate-General) *

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

(Consulate-General) ;Turkey *

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

(

Embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

) *Berlin (Consulate-General) *

Köln Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

(Consulate-General) *

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Do ...

(Consulate-General) *

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

(Consulate-General) *

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

(Consulate-General) *

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

(Consulate-General) *

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

(Consulate-General) *

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

(Consulate-General) *

München Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

(Consulate-General) *

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

(Consulate-General) *

Nürnberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

(Consulate-General) *

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

(Consulate-General) File:Embassy of Germany in Ankara 01.JPG, Embassy of Germany in Ankara File:Consulate-General of Germany in İstanbul.jpg, Consulate-General of Germany in Istanbul File:Consulate-General of Germany in İzmir.jpg, Consulate-General of Germany in Izmir File:2012-12-29 AMA fec (6a) türkische botschaft.JPG, Embassy of Turkey in Berlin File:Turkish consulate-general Hamburg 1.jpg, Consulate-General of Turkey in Hamburg File:An der Christuskirche 3, Hannover-Nordstadt, mobile Polizeiwache (Gesamtkonzept - Architekten), Türkisches Generalkonsulat, (23).JPG, Consulate-General of Turkey in Hannover

Country comparison

References

External links

*
Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with GermanyTurkish Secretariat General for EU Affairs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Germany-Turkey Relations

Bilateral relations of Turkey

History

Medieval and Early Modern periods

Late 19th century and World War I

World War II

Political relations

Accession of Turkey to the European Union

EU sanctions

Diplomatic incidents

State visits

Economic relations

Arms deals

Relationship between Turkish and German political parties

HDP and German green party

AKP and CDU

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and FDP politician Wolfgang Kubicki

Turkish diaspora

Turkey's purges

Turkish espionage in Germany

Operation Irini

Resident diplomatic missions

Country comparison

See also

References

Further reading

External links