Bobby Ghosh, Columnist

Erdogan Gets Something for Nothing in Germany

Turkey’s leader came away from his state visit with gifts from Merkel, and his own positions unaltered.

October 3, 2018 at 4:00 AM UTC

Bobby Ghosh is a senior editor in the digital weekend team. Previously, he was a columnist at Bloomberg Opinion, where he wrote mostly about international affairs and culture.

No leverage over him.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

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Before Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s state visit to Germany last week, analysts — this one included — suggested his main priority would be to mollify Angela Merkel. Instead, Turkey’s leader used the occasion to demonstrate why he didn’t need to.

He didn’t get everything he wanted: There were no promises of visa-free access to the Europe Union for Turks, for instance, and the prospects for a more extensive customs union with the EU haven’t improved.