Erdogan welcomes Merkel supporting future Turkish schools in Germany

Speaking at a joint press conference alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is paying an official visit to Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday said that he was pleased with Merkel's positive stance on opening Turkish schools in Germany in the future. Stating that education in German began in Turkey decades ago, Erdogan cited such schools as the German High School, Austrian High School and Istanbul High School for Boys. Erdogan's comments came after Merkel assured Turkey that similar arrangements would take place in Germany regarding schools that could provide education in Turkish. "We feel a distinct happiness when high-level visits take place between Turkey and Germany," he said. "We pay very great attention to boosting ties with Germany." He added, "As the prime ministers of two friendly and allied countries, we had a very fruitful meeting. We exchanged views on all regional and international issues concerning our two countries. We had a chance to discuss political, military, commercial, and cultural steps to develop mutual relations." Our relations are friendly and developing in all fields, and we discussed how to better them still, Erdogan said. "By taking advantage of deep historical relations between Turkey and Germany, Germany can be a role model to other EU members," he added. "I believe Parliament will approve tomorrow (Tuesday) the establishment of a Turkish-German University. We have finished preparations for the university to be established on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. I was very happy to hear from Ms. Merkel that Germany will take similar steps to provide Turkish lessons in similar structures in Germany (in the future)."