German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Turkey played a constructive and important role in exporting grains from Ukraine, expressing his thanks to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his personal contributions in this regard.

This came in a press conference by the German Chancellor and the Turkish President as part of a one-day working visit by Erdogan to the capital, Berlin.

Scholz explained: “Turkey played a constructive and important role in exporting grains from Ukraine. I thank President Erdogan for his personal contributions.”

The German Chancellor pointed out that they are dealing with many crises in the world.

He stated that they agreed with President Erdogan to end “Russian aggression” against Ukraine.

He recalled that the proposal regarding the protocol for Sweden’s accession to NATO had been submitted to the Turkish Parliament for ratification, expressing his belief that Sweden would become a member of it.

Referring to the Israeli attacks on Gaza, Scholz said that they “unequivocally condemn Hamas.”

He added: “We will talk about what we can do in light of the tension in the region. We are concerned about the spread of conflict in the region.”

He continued: “Israel has the right to defend itself in accordance with international law, and we say that every life has equal value. What the people of Gaza are going through also saddens us, and this year we are also providing assistance worth 160 million euros.”

He continued: “The two-state solution must be the ultimate goal. Israel’s right to exist is a must for us, and there is no place for anti-Semitism in our country.”

Regarding the number of Muslims in his country, Scholz said, “Five million Muslims have a place here in Germany, and we are against those who deny them.”

The German Chancellor stated that there are great tensions in the Middle East and that what is happening in the region concerns them.

He added: “It is true that we partly differ in opinions. It is important to speak directly in difficult times.”

He indicated that he would discuss with President Erdogan the tangible progress regarding Turkey’s membership in the European Union, adding: “We have fallen behind our potential in relations, and we will see what kind of progress we can achieve here.”

Speaking about the importance of irregular migration, Scholz said: “We want to reduce it. A good agreement was reached (with Turkey) in 2016. We want to contribute to improving (this agreement) in the European Union and maintaining it. This agreement is for our mutual benefit.” .

He stressed that the German and Turkish peoples have close relations in many aspects, indicating that the importance of this relationship was demonstrated by the aid provided by Germany during the earthquake of February 6, 2023 in Turkey.

In the question-and-answer section of the press conference, Scholz reiterated Germany’s support for Israel’s right to defend itself and said: “We must reduce the number of civilian casualties.”

He stressed that Germany had taken steps at an early stage to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, and accused Hamas of “holding Gaza hostage.”

He pointed out that negotiations had been held with countries such as Egypt, Qatar and Turkey to release the hostages and allow foreign citizens in Gaza to leave the region, recalling that this issue was also raised at the European Union summit.

Scholz said that Hamas should be prevented from repeating the attacks of last October 7, stressing the need to support the two-state solution as a perspective for the future.

He pointed to the importance of Turkey’s support for the Black Sea Grains Initiative, adding: “There was very good mediation (by Turkey). Unfortunately, and very sadly, Russia withdrew from this agreement.”

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CEO of the German wind energy giant Nordex Group, Jose Luis Blanco, said that the group imports wind energy equipment from Turkey at a level of 600 million euros annually, and imports are expected to reach one billion euros next year.

This came in a statement he made following a meeting on wind energy supply chain challenges, solutions and alternatives for the European Union region, organized by the Turkish Wind Energy Association (TÜREB) and the European Wind Energy Association (Wind Europe) in the European Parliament.

Blanco pointed out in his statement that “Turkey is one of the largest supply chain centers for their companies, as wind energy equipment is supplied from Turkey at a level of 600 million euros annually, and most of this equipment is used in Western, Central and Northern Europe.”

He explained, “His company has an installed capacity of wind energy of 3.2 gigawatts in the country, and Turkey is the world’s largest exporter and supplier of the company’s steel towers. There are plans to increase supplies of equipment from Turkey. Imports are doubling and we expect them to reach one billion euros in 2024.”

The CEO revealed that “Turkey is an important market not only for his company, which he heads, but also for Europe and the energy sector,” stressing, “I believe that it will be beneficial for Europe to increase its mutual dependence in this sector with Turkey and move to a common market structure.”

He added: “The closer we get to the structure of the common market, the better it will be for both the sector and the company. For this reason, we believe that any obstacles that may arise in the trade agreements between the European Union and Turkey should be removed as much as possible.”

For his part, Ender Ozatay, Vice President and General Manager of Nordex in Turkey and the Middle East, stated that “the company’s installed wind energy capacity in Turkey amounts to 3.2 gigawatts.”

He added: “We grow by double digits every time. The growth we expect in Turkey for 2024 is more than 50 percent in terms of trading volume.”

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Turkey and Italy won on Tuesday to jointly organize the European Football Championship between the two countries in the 2032 edition.

The European Football Association (UEFA) announced that it had been given the honor of organizing Euro 2032 to the joint file submitted by Turkey and Italy following its board of directors meeting in the Swiss city of Nyon.

The Federation also announced that it had granted the honor of organizing Euro 2028 to the duo of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Thus, Turkey has won the honor of organizing the tournament for the first time in its history, after it had previously nominated itself to host the most prominent continental event 6 times.

It is scheduled that 5 cities from Turkey and Italy will be selected to host the tournament matches, and the stadiums that will host the opening and final matches will be determined at a later time.

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The European Parliament approved an aid package worth 400 million euros provided by the European Union to Turkey to confront the effects of the earthquake that struck the south of the country on February 6.

In the vote held by the General Assembly of the European Parliament, the aid package was accepted with the approval of 593 members, against 11 against, and 22 members abstained from voting.

In her speech before the vote, Katalin Cseh, vice-chair of parliament’s liberal Renew Europe group (formerly known as the Liberal and Democratic Alliance for Europe – ALDE), said the EU’s solidarity and emergency reserve is extremely important and must be increased.

Cseh stated that there are “attempts to cast doubt” on the aid that will be provided to Turkey after the devastating earthquakes.

She added: “We completely reject attempts to compare the tragedy of one country with the tragedy of another country. Turkey is a candidate country to join the European Union and legally deserves assistance, and attempts to prevent this are populist and divisive in nature.”

On February 6, two earthquakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 in magnitude struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by thousands of violent aftershocks, leaving thousands dead and massive destruction.

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development raised its growth forecast for the Turkish economy during 2023 to 3.5 percent.

The regional economic outlook report issued by the bank on Wednesday indicated an increase in growth expectations for the Turkish economy from 2.5 to 3.5 percent for the year 2023.

The report stated that the upward adjustment reflects strong growth in the first half of this year due to the impact of the financial recovery before the presidential elections last May.

He also expected the Turkish economy to grow by 3 percent in 2024.

He considered the return to traditional economic policies a positive sign, and that the local elections next March will be an important factor.

Last May, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development expected that the Turkish economy would grow by 2.5 percent this year.

The bank’s investments in Turkey amount to about 18 billion euros, most of which are in the private sector.

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The European Parliament’s Budget Committee approved providing assistance worth 400 million euros to support Turkey in dealing with the consequences of the earthquake disaster that occurred last February.

The committee agreed, by a majority of 26 votes to one, for the European Commission to provide aid to Turkey, Italy and Romania with a total value of 454.8 million euros to confront the effects of disasters.

It is expected that the aforementioned aid will be approved in the vote that will take place at the General Assembly meeting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the 2nd and 5th of next October.

On September 18, the aid was approved by the European Union Council.

400 million euros in aid will be allocated to Turkey due to the double earthquake disaster that struck the south of the country on February 6.

While 33.9 million euros in aid will be given to Romania, which was hit by a drought in 2022, and 20.9 million euros to Italy, where floods caused devastation in September last year.

The aid will be covered by the section allocated from the European Union budget for solidarity and emergency aid.

Financial aid will be granted after final approval by the European Parliament.

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Members of the European Union Council decided to approve aid worth 400 million euros to Turkey to support it in dealing with the consequences of the earthquake disaster that occurred last February.

The members of the Council, which consists of representatives of the Union countries, agreed to approve the European Commission’s provision of aid to Turkey, Italy and Romania with a total value of 454.8 million euros to confront the effects of disasters.

400 million euros in aid will be allocated to Turkey due to the double earthquake disaster that struck the south of the country on February 6.

While 33.9 million euros in aid will be given to Romania, which was hit by a drought in 2022, and 20.9 million euros to Italy, where floods caused devastation in September last year.

The aid will be covered by the allocated section of the EU budget for solidarity and emergency aid.

The financial aid will be granted after final approval by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

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The European statistical office, Eurostat, said that the trade balance of the eurozone turned to record a surplus of 23 billion euros in June, amid a decline in imports and the abandonment of trade with Russia.

Eurostat said in a statement on Thursday that the trade balance surplus of the region (20 countries) in June comes after it recorded a deficit of 300 million euros last May.

The region’s imports fell 17.77% year-on-year in June to 229.3 billion euros; Exports rose 0.3 percent year-on-year to 252.3 billion euros in June.

In the first half of 2023, the trade balance of the region’s economies shifted to achieve a surplus of 5.3 billion euros, compared to a deficit of 151.8 billion euros in the first half of 2022.

The United States came as the largest trading partner of the eurozone in the first half, followed by China, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Turkey and Norway, respectively.

Russia ranked tenth in terms of trading partners for the eurozone, with exports to it amounting to 20.5 billion euros, down by 31 percent.

Eurozone imports from Russia fell 76 percent in the first half to 29.3 billion euros ($91.9 billion).

The economies of the eurozone were affected by the negative repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war with the imposition of economic sanctions and economic restrictions against Moscow.

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The European Commission pledged Monday to support Turkey with one billion euros for the reconstruction of the areas hit by the devastating earthquake last February.

This was stated by the head of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during the international donors’ conference “Together for the Turkish and Syrian People” held in Brussels.

“I am pleased to announce that the European Commission alone will support Turkey with 1 billion euros for post-earthquake reconstruction,” said von der Leyen.

“Houses, schools and hospitals must be rebuilt with the highest earthquake safety standards in mind, and water and sanitation facilities and other critical infrastructure must be repaired,” she added.

The European official stressed that the European Union not only wants to help earthquake victims “to survive, but also to rebuild their lives.”

It also announced an additional €108 million package for humanitarian aid and early recovery in Syria.

On February 6, 2023, two successive earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by thousands of violent aftershocks, which left great losses in lives and property.

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Netherlands-based Philips Electronics announced that it will lay off 6,000 employees worldwide to cut costs.

The company said in a statement on Monday about its sales for the year 2022 that sales declined, and the company’s losses amounted to 1.6 billion euros last year.

It indicated that it will lay off 6,000 of its employees around the world in 2023, including 1,100 in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, and the city of Eindhoven.

The company, which has about 80,000 employees around the world, laid off the services of 4,000 of its employees in October 2022 in order to reduce costs.

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