Scholz and Erdogan display their differences on the Israel-Hamas conflict
Turkish President Erdogan arrived this Friday, November 17 in the German capital early in the afternoon for half a day. At the center of his meetings with the German president, then with the chancellor, was obviously the situation in the Middle East. The Turkish president’s attacks against Israel provoked an outcry in Germany against this visit. During a joint press conference two hours ago, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Olaf Scholz presented their divergent points of view and discussed a few other issues.
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With our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibaut
“ It’s no secret that we have different, partly very divergent, points of view. »: Olaf Scholz underlined that a compromise with his host was excluded on the current conflict. An outburst was, however, avoided with the Turkish president not having repeated his recent remarks calling Israel a terrorist state that Olaf Scholz had described as “ absurd “.
The German Chancellor reiterated that the existence of Israel could not be called into question and that the Jewish state had the right, after the attacks of October 7, to defend itself. “ Israel’s right to exist is irrefutable for us. Israel has the right to defend itself. This is why it is not possible that the risk of Hamas attacks will remain. » Olaf Scholz, however, underlined the importance of humanitarian pauses for the benefit of the civilian population and recalled that his country has increased its aid.
Erdogan denounces massive destruction in Gaza
Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the massive destruction in the Gaza Strip and the thousands of Palestinian deaths. “Places of worship are affected, churches are affected, hospitals are affected. But shooting at hospitals, killing children… These things are not in the Torah, we can’t do that. It’s not in the Declaration of Human Rights, we can’t do it. »
The two officials, however, agree on the need to avoid an escalation of violence in the region. They both advocated for a long-term two-state solution.
Turkey remains an important regional player since other issues remain, such as an improvement in the agreement between Turkey and Europe against illegal immigration or Ankara’s interest in Eurofighter fighter planes for which an agreement of Germany is necessary.
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