President Erdoğan to make a state visit to Germany

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to arrive in Berlin in late September for his first official visit to Germany in four years, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported, citing Bild newspaper.

The visit, which will include a military honour guard and state banquet, will be his first state visit to Germany after becoming president in 2014, Deutsche Welle said.

There may well be criticism in Germany for its rolling out of the red carpet for Turkey’s strongman, who has attained enhanced powers with dismantling of the parliamentary system following his victory in the June parliamentary and presidential snap elections.

There have been increased tensions in Ankara-Berlin relations following Turkey’s July 2016 failed coup attempt against Erdogan. The Turkish government’s crackdown against real and imagined enemies has drawn concerns in Europe over the deterioration of human rights and the rule of law in the country.

While Turkey accuses Germany of harbouring followers of the Gulen movement, a secretive Islamic group which Ankara accuses of being behind the coup attempt, Ankara accuses Berlin of allowing the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an autonomy-seeking armed group that has been at war in Turkey for over three decades, to operate in Germany.