German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck an upbeat tone after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 summit, and said she expected progress on two thorny issues that have marred German and European ties with Ankara.
Both Germany and the EU, which depend on Ankara to keep a lid on the movement of migrants to the bloc, are trying to ease tensions with Turkey.
Merkel said she was hopeful that the European Union and Turkey could resolve their differences over visa-free travel for Turks, but an agreement was likely still several weeks away.
“The discussions with the European Commission are very intensive and are continuing,” she said.
Merkel said she and Erdogan also agreed that the political process aimed at ending the fighting in Syria must be resumed since the situation in Aleppo was unacceptable and a ceasefire was urgently needed.

Merkel also said she expected a resolution in Germany’s dispute with Ankara over visits to an air base in Turkey. She and other German officials have insisted that Ankara must end its ban on German lawmaker visits to 250 German soldiers working at Incirlik Air Base as part of the U.S.-led coalition’s air strikes against Islamist State targets.
“I believe it is possible that we will get positive news on the justified demand in the coming days,” the German leader told reporters after meeting with Erdogan in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
Rainer Arnold, defense spokesman for the Social Democrats in parliament, told Reuters earlier he expected Turkey to approve an Oct. 4 visit by lawmakers to the base next week.
Ankara previously threatened to walk away from cooperation on migration should it not get more relaxed travel rules in October, but now appears willing to push the deadline to the end of the year, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported.

Source: Reuters, 4 Sep. 2016