• Friedrich Merz will find new and better ways to make 2016 EU-Türkiye agreement ‘more stable and more win-win for all sides,’ Hardt tells Anadolu

• ‘I’m sure Türkiye will appreciate a stronger German role in Europe, because it’s also good for German and EU relations with Türkiye,’ says Hardt

BERLIN 

Leading German chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz will pursue closer dialogue and cooperation with Türkiye if his center-right Christian Democrats win the upcoming elections, according to a close aide.

In an interview with Anadolu, Jurgen Hardt, a senior conservative lawmaker, highlighted the economy, migration, and regional issues – particularly Ukraine and Syria – as key areas where Germany and Türkiye should work more closely together.

He identified migration management as a priority, stating that the incoming German government would implement stronger measures to limit mass migration, while expediting rejected asylum seeker returns and bolstering domestic security.

“We see a situation in Germany where we are overwhelmed by the numbers of refugees, and the state structures are not able to handle it properly,” Hardt said, noting that Germany had taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees in the past few years, more than any other EU country.

“Because we see the overload on German institutions, structures, bureaucracy … we see a need to take a break. This is, so to say, short-term action,” he said, referring to the Christian Democrats’ recent push to introduce permanent border controls and turn away irregular migrants.

However, Hardt also acknowledged that addressing the migration crisis over the medium- and long-term would require working closely with both origin and transit countries to tackle the fundamental causes, including poverty, conflict, and political instability.

‘Cooperation with Türkiye is of huge importance’

Lauding the success of the 2016 EU-Türkiye agreement – a key initiative of former Chancellor Angela Merkel that helped manage irregular migration flows – Hardt indicated that Merz plans to further strengthen this partnership.

“We appreciate very much the work Türkiye is doing on that side, on the basis of the Türkiye-EU agreement from 2016,” he said.

“Merz will continue that, from my point of view, and find new and better ways to make it more stable, and more win-win for all sides,” Hardt said, emphasizing the importance of further strengthening cooperation between Brussels, Berlin, and Ankara.

Türkiye had been a key transit point for Afghan, Iraqi and Syrian refugees who want to cross into Europe, though the 2016 EU-Türkiye agreement significantly reduced irregular refugee flows.

The agreement has successfully decreased crossings across the Aegean Sea and prevented thousands of migrants from drowning at sea. However, the EU’s bureaucratic hurdles and delays in mobilizing promised funds for hosted refugees’ needs have drawn sharp criticism from Turkish politicians.

Hardt, who is also the foreign affairs spokesman of the parliamentary group of Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU), said they believe that Europeans must also work on solutions on the mid- and long-term to address the root causes of the problem and the reasons forcing people to flee their home countries.

“Therefore, cooperation with Türkiye is of huge importance, because the Syrian question, which is the main country where refugees came to Germany, besides Ukraine … cannot be solved without Türkiye. Türkiye has a main role here,” the veteran lawmaker said.

Hardt underlined that ensuring security and stability in Syria, and enabling a good future for the Syrian people, is in the common interest of Germany and Türkiye.

He also praised Türkiye’s diplomatic efforts in the Russia-Ukraine war, highlighting how Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been among the few leaders able to maintain direct dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We are sometimes question-marking some dialogue from Erdogan with others around the world, including Putin, but to come back to the facts, I feel and I see that Türkiye is a strong supporter of a free Ukraine,” Hardt said.

Erdogan and Türkiye “probably helped us a lot to find this deal on Ukraine’s grain exports and … also a platform for negotiations, maybe not on a peace treaty, but negotiation on issues like exchange of war prisoners,” he said.

“Therefore, Türkiye plays a main role,” he added.

‘More strategic’ approach under Merz

Ahead of the Feb. 23 elections, the center-right CDU/CSU alliance, led by likely next chancellor Merz, holds a commanding lead of 30% in recent surveys.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) stands at 16%, with their coalition partner, the Greens, at 14%.

While the CDU/CSU alliance leads in the polls, they will need to form a coalition government to secure a parliamentary majority. Merz has not yet signaled his preferred coalition partner between either the SPD or the Greens.

Hardt said that once Christian Democrats come to power, they will adopt a more active foreign policy by developing strategic dialogue and cooperation with important partners like Türkiye.

“Merz, generally speaking, is more a strategic guy on foreign security issues,” he said, while criticizing incumbent Chancellor Scholz for failing to come up with strong foreign policy initiatives to address the current challenges.

“I think that Merz, from his political background as a member of the European Parliament for several years, as a businessman doing international business affairs, as a lawyer and a supervisor to companies, he will be very open-minded to listen to all sides,” Hardt said.

“I’m sure that Türkiye will appreciate a stronger German role in Europe, because it’s also good for the German and European Union relations with Türkiye,” he added.​​​​​​​