TURKEY-Scholz Hosts Erdoğan Amid Stark Divisions On Israel-Hamas War

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Berlin today in a meeting that will be overshadowed by the two leaders' starkly opposing stances on the Israel-Hamas war. Euronews reports Erdoğan is set to arrive "around noon" local time, with "a meeting with the press" planned (no time on that yet) following talks.

• In recent weeks, Erdoğan has garnered headlines with his hard-line denunciations of Israel's military actions towards Gaza, callingIsrael a "terror state", stating that the West is "trying to exonerate the murderers", and calling Hamas "liberators".
• The German gov't on the other hand has maintained the long-standing policy of calling Israel's security a Staatsräson, (reason of state), taken as meaning Berlin's support for Israel is unwavering. Earlier in the week Scholz called Erdoğan's comments "absurd".
• Erdoğan is set to seek Scholz's approval for the Turkish Air Force to purchase at least 20 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets. However, Bloomberg reports that Scholz will block the purchase amid, "diplomatic strains between US-led NATO allies and Turkey over the country’s acquisition of air defenses from Russia, its military drive against Kurdish forces in Syria and delay in ratifying Sweden’s membership of NATO."
• For Scholz there remain significant risks associated with a foundering of EU-Turkey relations, namely the 2016 deal that sees Turkey hosting refugees and migrants in exchange for EU finding. As relations have soured, the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Turkey has risen, raising political concerns in EU capitals.