German Chancellor Angela Merkel invited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Berlin for a visit after Turkey holds its early presidential and general elections next month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu said on Tuesday.
"Merkel is awaiting Erdoğan for a visit following Turkey’s presidential and general elections on June 24," Çavuşoğlu told reporters on May 29.
The invitation came amid a recent spat between Turkish government and Germany after pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) held a rally in Cologne on May 26. The Turkish Foreign Ministry on May 26 accused Germany of making a double standard decision to allow the HDP rally but previously preventing ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) politicians from campaigning there.
On Tuesday, Çavuşoğlu and Merkel travelled to Solingen to commemorate the victims of a neo-Nazi arson attack on a Turkish family 25 years ago, when three children and two women were killed and 14 others were injured. Back then, the incident, which took place amid growing anti-immigrant sentiments after Germany's unification, spurred a wave of Turkish protests across several German cities.
Turkey will hold its early presidential and general elections on June 24.
