Martin Erdmann

German companies should remain hopeful about the future of their investments in Turkey as the country still offers considerable economic growth potential despite current turbulence, German Ambassador to Turkey Martin Erdmann said on Dec. 7.

Speaking at the "Turkish-German Economy Day" event in Ankara, Erdmann said he continues to be upbeat about the future of bilateral ties.        

The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned German Ambassador to Turkey Martin Erdmann on Dec. 7 to convey Ankara's reaction after airport police in Cologne temporarily held Turkish Parliament Deputy Speaker Ayşenur Bahçekapılı due to a problem with her passport, diplomatic sources have told the Hürriyet Daily News. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed Germany after the incident.

Turkey is expecting Germany's parliament to approve the deployment of surveillance aircraft to support an international coalition's fight against jihadists in Syria following the resolution of a months-long crisis between Ankara and Berlin over the latter's request to let its lawmakers visit German troops at İncirlik Air Base.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans will pay a visit on April 23 to the southern province of Gaziantep, where they aim to take stock of the implementation of the March 18 EU-Turkey deal and discuss the next steps.

Germany will take the first Syrian refugees subject to an EU-Turkey pact on April 4, with its ambassador noting that the small group's "resettlement" will serve as a "test" to determine deficiencies in the EU-Turkey readmission deal reached this month, as Greece readies to send its first batch of migrants to Turkey. 

Germany's ambassador to Turkey has defended his attendance at the controversial trial of two Turkish journalists charged with espionage, while stating that the reason for his summoning to the Turkish Foreign Ministry was not his attendance but rather his photo from the courtroom shared on social media.

German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier said he expected Turkey as a "partner of the EU" to share the European values, as a response to Turkey summoning the German ambassador to Ankara over a video that ridiculed the Turkish president. 

Turkey summoned Germany's ambassador Martin Erdmann to protest a two-minute song satirizing President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an that was broadcast on German public television, a diplomatic source told AFP on March 29.

"We summoned the ambassador last week to communicate our protest about the broadcast that we condemned," the source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Turkey and Germany have signed joint declarations of intention concerning cooperation on migration, border police, human smuggling and the fight against terrorism, while Berlin has also pressed Turkey to take back migrants trying to cross the Aegean Sea.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu visited the scene of a Feb. 17 car bombing targeting a military convoy in Ankara that killed 28 people.