Erdogan shows interest in German election results and arms cooperation

According to NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has shown great interest in the recent election results in Germany. Erdogan is following the domestic political situation in Germany, including in North Rhine-Westphalia, “very, very closely,” said Wüst after a meeting that lasted around 50 minutes with the president in Ankara.

“He was also very interested in my assessment of the recent election results,” emphasized Wüst. “We discussed this very intensively.” But Erdogan is also very interested and informed about what moves people in Germany, including “recent events in football”.

The North Rhine-Westphalian head of government has been seen for weeks as a possible successor to Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), who is under pressure. In the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD almost achieved an absolute majority, while the CDU collapsed. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD also got the most votes in the state elections, while the CDU was thrown out of the state parliament. In Berlin, the CDU was pushed out of first place in parliament by the Left.

Armament was also an issue

As a NATO country, Turkey also has a great interest in working even more closely together in the field of armaments and mutually benefiting from innovations, Wüst continued. The interest is mutual. Erdogan is very well informed about what the arms industry based in North Rhine-Westphalia has to offer.