
North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst presents himself as an alternative to the Federal Chancellor on a large-scale trip to Turkey and then receives an audience with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
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Hendrik Wüst, CDU Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, is using his trip abroad to Türkiye to position himself as a foreign policy actor and to differentiate himself from the Federal Chancellor.
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CDU Prime Minister on a trip to Turkey Suddenly Wüst is sitting with Erdoğan
Smile, explain, reconcile: Hendrik Wüst presents himself as an alternative to the Chancellor on a large-scale trip to Turkey. And then the NRW Prime Minister also receives an audience with the State President.
Christian Teevs reports from Ankara
September 28, 2026, 8:58 p.m
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Hendrik Wüst emphasizes that he currently has no intention of replacing Friedrich Merz as Chancellor, but would like to concentrate on the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in six months. At the same time, his visit to Turkey is helping to keep the debate about a chancellor swap alive.