The Prime Minister of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, a member of the Christian Democratic Party, Hendrik Fust, who is 51 years old and heads a coalition government made up of the conservatives and the Green Party, made an official visit to Turkey, during which, in his first meeting there, he was immediately received cordially: he was offered “purified water” flavored with mint and cucumber. Foust took the drink with humility and respect. He knows that he is currently known, especially in Germany, as the man who does not want to overthrow Chancellor Friedrich Merz (Christian Democratic Party). And for this very reason it receives a great deal of attention. Therefore all his movements must be carefully calculated.
Recently, Chancellor Meretz and his conservative party suffered three crushing defeats in a row in parliamentary elections for three German states. The Alternative for Germany party, which is classified in some of its wings as an extreme right-wing party, was outperformed in opinion polls by Meretz's party. Rumors spread that Merz would soon be removed from his position as chancellor, and Faust's name was frequently mentioned when talking about Merz's potential successor. Although Foust always denied this.
Perhaps this is also why Fust is viewed differently even in Türkiye. This is the first official visit to Türkiye by the Prime Minister of the largest German state in terms of population. However, he was received directly by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a meeting that lasted a full 50 minutes. This is an unusually long period for a foreign political representative who is not a member of the government of the state in question. Afterwards, Foust held meetings with three ministers.
This alone represents a political success for the head of the government of the German federal state located in western Germany, where a third of the people of Turkish descent, numbering about three million people in Germany, live. The volume of trade exchange between Türkiye and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia reaches more than ten billion euros. In this regard, Foust stressed: “I think the time has come for a visit like this.”
Of course, he realizes that the images of the Prime Minister of a German state as a statesman on the international scene will further ignite controversy over his ambitions to assume the position of German Chancellor. This is despite President Erdogan's keenness for official photos to show the protocol gap between him as head of state and a representative of a federal state from Germany.
15 journalists from Berlin left Chancellor Meretz alone in Berlin for three full days to accompany on the international scene the man, whose name is mentioned everywhere as a possible successor to Meretz. Or at least it was mentioned during the days following the elections. As for Foust himself, he does not comment on the rumors, as he has long been accustomed to doing.
Foust described his meeting with Erdogan as a "trustworthy and frank talk." This also enables him to talk about “crucial things,” he added. This seems to mean the increasing number of human rights violations and political persecution of the opposition and critical press in Türkiye. The human rights situation in Türkiye has long been one of the main obstacles to rapprochement with the European Union.
I also heard from my companion, the rising politician, that there are attempts to adopt a “new approach” that focuses “on the positives.” In other words: criticizing Türkiye directly behind closed doors is better than public statements that prevent dialogue later. There are efforts to "continue the tone" set by Chancellor Merz during his visit to Ankara at the end of October last year. Thus, Chancellor Meretz's name was mentioned again.
After his conversation with President Erdogan, Hendrik Fust said: “There is also great interest in strengthening cooperation with Türkiye in the field of armaments.” He pointed to other points of contact between Turkey and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia: within it, in the city of Cologne, is the headquarters of the central mosque of the Turkish Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), which is the largest Sunni Islamic organization in Germany. Fust pointed out that 65 years have passed since the signing of the first agreements to employ Turkish workers in Germany.
Fust then made a field visit to the German company Henkel, and in his self-criticism told the workers and management: “For a very long time Germany has sometimes viewed a lot of people of Turkish descent as a problem.” But it was the so-called "guest workers" who first paved the way for Germany's post-war economic renaissance.
During the three days he spent in Ankara and Istanbul, Fust succeeded in strengthening German-Turkish relations within the frameworks set by the German government, as well as the impression that Fust could not be bypassed regarding the issue of the Chancellor.
