Ayhan Simsek
06 July 2020•Update: 06 July 2020
BERLIN
Top politicians from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government expressed hope on Monday that their country would soon ease coronavirus-related travel restrictions for Turkey.
“I hope that I will have the opportunity to travel to Turkey this summer,” Nils Schmid, foreign affairs spokesman for the Social Democrat Party (SPD) said at a webinar on German-Turkish relations.
Schmid said he hoped to see some changes on the travel warning in the next few weeks.
Speaking at the same webinar, Juergen Hardt, foreign policy spokesman for Merkel’s conservative CDU, said they were aware of the expectations of German tourists, and the Turkish community in Germany.
“I think it would be very helpful for hundreds of thousands of people of Turkish origin in Germany, and also for hundreds of thousands of German people that normally do their holiday in Turkey, if we find a way to reduce travel restrictions between Germany and Turkey,” he said.
However, Hardt underlined the German government will take a decision based on a scientific assessment of the situation by relevant institutions.
The webinar that hosted senior German lawmakers was organized by the Berlin representation of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.
In March, the German government had issued a global travel warning for its citizens to avoid non-essential travel abroad, and last month it decided to lift this warning only for EU and Schengen countries.
During his visit to Berlin last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called on Germany to lift its travel restrictions also for Turkey, stressing that Ankara has taken all necessary measures to ensure the safety of tourists.
His German counterpart Heiko Maas said health authorities will review detailed information provided by Turkey, and take a decision in coordination with the EU.
Turkey is one of the most popular travel destinations for German holiday makers. Nearly 5 million German tourists traveled to Turkey last year.
