Germany's Scholz says will discuss migration, defense cooperation on Türkiye trip

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday he would discuss migration and defense cooperation during his visit to Türkiye this weekend.

Scholz said his visit Saturday to Istanbul will be an opportunity to discuss bilateral issues and EU-Türkiye cooperation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“We will be discussing many issues. The issue of migration is of course always one of them, and the fact that the European Union and Turkey are working together on this is also right and reasonable” he told reporters in Brussels at the end of a summit of EU leaders.

“I have always supported this, and repeatedly asked the European Union to extend the relevant agreements,” he said, referring to the 2016 EU-Türkiye migration agreement, which effectively stopped irregular refugee flows into Europe through the Aegean Sea. Ankara, however, has repeatedly criticized its European partners for not honoring their commitments.​​​​​​​

As part of the deal, the EU had promised to accelerate Türkiye's EU accession process, start negotiations on modernizing the Customs Union and provide visa-free travel for Turkish nationals within the Schengen area.

Scholz said during his visit to Istanbul, they will discuss various aspects of EU-Türkiye cooperation, enhancing economic ties and good neighborly relations in the region.

Asked about Türkiye's interest in purchasing Eurofighter Typhoon jets, Scholz confirmed it will also be on the agenda.

“Of course, we always discuss the supply of weapons to our NATO partner,” he said, adding that the UK is currently holding talks with the Turkish government on the potential sale of the Eurofighters.

“This is at a very early stage, and that is why we said, ‘let's negotiate,'” he said, noting that Germany has not yet given its final approval.

Eurofighter Typhoon jets are jointly produced by the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain.