Can warmer Germany-Turkey ties bring Ankara Eurofighters along with Airbuses?

ANKARA — Germany's president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, recently visited Turkey, a testament to the maturity of Turkey-Germany relations — a blend of deeply rooted cooperation ties and conflicts — and experts expect fresh strides in the defense ties between the two countries following the trip.

Steinmeier’s state visit to Turkey last week grabbed headlines with its light-hearted moments over food, after the German leader brought a 60-kilogram stack of doner kebab, a famous Turkish dish, as a sort of symbolic gesture to a shared cultural dish between the two countries, thanks to more than 3.5 million Turks who immigrated to Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. 

But the focus of Steinmeier’s talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on more pressing issues between Turkey and its largest European trade partner.

Among them is Turkish demand to buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoons from a European consortium that manufactures the fighter jets. “We want the complete removal of restrictions on the defense industry from our relations,” Erdogan said sitting next to the German leader after their talks in Ankara.