The meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin received extensive coverage in the European press.
In an analysis titled "Erdoğan's carrot-and-stick game with Scholz," Bild newspaper quoted Erdoğan accusing Israel of razing Gaza to the ground, killing 13,000 Palestinians, and bombing places of worship, churches, and hospitals.
The article highlighted that President Erdoğan later stated that he had mediated between Russia and Ukraine on the Grain Corridor, that he had always openly opposed anti-Semitism, and that he did not owe anything to Israel in the matter of the Holocaust.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper also reported on President Erdoğan's meeting with Scholz with the headline "A little bit of unity", stating that Erdoğan and Scholz defended the two-state solution at the joint press conference, while they differed greatly on other views on Gaza.
The news article highlighted that during his first visit to Germany in four years, Erdoğan harshly criticised Israel for the attacks in the Gaza Strip and accused Israel of fascism in a joint press conference with Scholz.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper also reported with the headline "Scholz urges Erdoğan to take back rejected asylum seekers" and stated that during the visit of the President of Türkiye, Scholz urged that asylum seekers whose asylum requests were not accepted should be sent back to Türkiye swiftly and also said that a mechanism should be established for this.
According to the news article, regarding the Middle East conflict, the two leaders focused on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the release of prisoners and concerns about the spread of tensions in the region, as well as the long-term prospects for the conflict in Gaza and the Middle East.
The website "Tagesschau.de" of the First German Television Channel ARD featured an article titled "Clear dissent on the open stage", which stated, "Their positions on the Middle East clashed right at the beginning (of the meeting). Erdoğan called for a ceasefire in Gaza, while Scholz emphasised Israel's right to exist."
The article emphasised that during his visit to Berlin, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan underscored his criticism of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip and quoted his statement, "13,000 children, women and the elderly have been killed and everything (in Gaza) has been razed to the ground".
The article also noted that Erdoğan also called for a humanitarian ceasefire and added that if Germany and Türkiye could achieve such a ceasefire together, they would have the chance to save the region from this ring of fire".
The article stressed that Erdoğan called on everyone to make efforts for lasting peace in the Middle East.
The news published by Second German Television ZDF with the title "Partly very different points of view", stated that differences of opinion regarding the Middle East emerged at the press conference between Scholz and Erdoğan. In the article "Erdoğan's very sensitive visit to Berlin", Spiegel reported, quoting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as getting angry at a German journalist's question and saying, "You can't threaten us with this."
The Welt newspaper commented that Chancellor Scholz was happy to have survived the press conference.
"I speak freely because we don't owe anything to Israel"
In the European press, Erdoğan's remarks, "I speak freely because we don't owe anything to Israel. If we were in debt, we could not speak so freely. But those who are in debt cannot speak freely.
We did not go through the Holocaust. And we are not in such a situation because our respect for human beings is very different. I am a leader who took a stance on anti-Semitism for the first time during my term as prime minister. No prime minister in the world has taken this stance. But I did, way back then. Because of this, we owe no one," were emphasised, and it was interpreted that he was sending a message to Germany and Europe in this way.
Erdoğan and Scholz met in a tense setting in Germany, according to the news article titled "Erdoğan's tense visit to Berlin: Germany and Türkiye need each other" on the French radio station RFI.
The news article pointed out that Türkiye is an essential ally and that Western powers have given Türkiye a role in preventing the escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
The French BFMTV channel's news article headlined "Gaza: Erdoğan says 'Israeli attacks must stop' during his visit to Germany" reported that the President of Türkiye once again defended the "Palestinian cause" during his visit to Berlin.
Le Figaro newspaper covered President Erdoğan's joint press conference with Chancellor Scholz of Germany with the headline "Erdoğan says in Berlin that he is a leader who fights against anti-Semitism".
''Bombed''
The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf emphasised that Erdoğan harshly criticised Israel during his visit to Berlin, and under the subheading "bombardment", Erdoğan's following statements were covered: "As of now, 13 thousand Palestinian children, women and elderly people have unfortunately been killed. In addition to this, there is almost no Gaza left anymore; the whole place has been levelled to the ground. They keep talking about Hamas. Can Hamas' weaponry and power be compared to Israel's weaponry and power? Does Israel currently have nuclear weapons? Yes, it does, but if you ask Israel, they will not admit it.''
British broadcaster BBC quoted Erdoğan as saying during his official visit to Berlin that ''Germany should work together with Türkiye to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.''
The news article reported Erdoğan as saying Türkiye was not bound by the guilt of the Holocaust in who it supported - a reference to Germany's support for Israel.
In its news article on the meeting, The Telegraph newspaper used the headline, ''Holocaust means Germany cannot talk about Israel-Hamas war, suggests Erdoğan.''
According to the news, "Erdoğan said, 'I speak freely because we do not owe [anything] to Israel... those who are indebted to Israel are not able to talk freely. We did not go through the Holocaust... We are not in such a situation."
The news article, which assessed that these remarks "caused visible discomfort" in Scholz, pointed out that Erdoğan reacted against Israel for the civilian death toll in Gaza.
The news also included Erdoğan's statements that he was leading a fight against anti-Semitism.
Greek press focused on fighter jets
The Greek media extensively covered President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Berlin yesterday.
Kathimerini Newspaper drew attention to Türkiye's plan to supply fighter jets in its front page news.
President Erdoğan was quoted as saying, "There are other countries producing fighter jets; do not threaten us," upon the question of a German journalist in the news article headlined ''Erdoğan: We will buy fighter jets from elsewhere".
Ta Nea Newspaper also used the headline "Scholz and Erdoğan clash in front of the cameras for Hamas" in its front page news.
"The meeting between Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Türkiye started with a confrontation in front of the cameras," the news article stated.
It was reported that Scholz emphasised Israel's right to self-defence and said that it was no secret that Germany and Türkiye disagreed on this issue during the press conference that preceded the working dinner.
Scholz was not in favour of selling Eurofighter jets to Türkiye, according to an article in the Eleftheros Typos newspaper headlined "Erdoğan's difficult trip to Germany".