German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Ankara in June 2006 and called on Türkiye to ratify the Ankara Agreement Additional Protocol before Germany assumes the rotating EU presidency in January 2007, warning that no headway had been made on the matter.
At a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, Steinmeier expressed cautious optimism about the Vienna talks on Iran's nuclear program, saying he believed Iran would give the proposal serious consideration, particularly in light of the United States decision to join the negotiations directly.
Gül echoed that stance, noting that Iran is Türkiye's neighbor and that regional stability is a shared concern. He said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and he had recently met with officials from several countries to discuss diplomatic contributions, and that he had personally urged Iranian officials to study the Vienna proposal carefully before rejecting it.
On bilateral ties, Steinmeier noted that roughly 2,170 German firms have invested in Türkiye and that tourism between the two countries continues to grow. He also highlighted a joint initiative launched during the cartoon crisis earlier that year, when officials co-authored an article in newspapers in both countries to ease tensions, with plans to expand such cooperation into cultural and scientific fields.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in June 2006, in its own words.