German Chancellor Merkel to visit Turkey next week

BERLIN

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Turkey next week to discuss bilateral relations and international issues, her spokesman said Friday.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Steffen Seibert said Merkel would visit Istanbul on Jan. 24 for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"The topics of the meeting will be the current international and bilateral issues," he said, without giving further details about the agenda.

Merkel and Erdogan are also set to attend the official opening ceremony for the new campus of the Turkish-German University in Istanbul.