BERLIN

Germany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday vowed to expand cooperation with Türkiye, highlighting its vital strategic role within the NATO alliance.

“Türkiye is an extremely valuable and important NATO partner for us, and I will do everything I can to maintain and further expand this partnership,” Merz told a joint press conference with NATO chief Mark Rutte in Brussels, following their meeting.

Merz said Türkiye protects an area in NATO territory whose strategic importance is absolutely vital, and noted that they have discussed Ankara's role and contributions during their meeting with Rutte.

The chancellor also announced that he is planning to visit Ankara in the near future, upon Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's invitation.

Regarding defense cooperation projects between the two countries and the potential sale of Eurofighter jets to Türkiye, Chancellor Merz confirmed that no decision has been made yet.

“We still need to decide in the German federal government whether to approve the delivery of fighter jets to Türkiye,” he told reporters, adding that Germany seeks the closest possible ties with Türkiye within NATO, considering Ankara a key ally in the defense alliance.

Türkiye, which maintains NATO's second-largest military force, plans to acquire 40 Eurofighter jets—aircraft jointly manufactured by the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

As a manufacturing partner, Germany must give final approval for the sale. The previous German coalition government expressed reservations about the sale, primarily due to opposition from their coalition partner, the Greens.

Conservative leader Merz became Germany's 10th chancellor on Tuesday when his center-right CDU/CSU alliance formed a coalition with the Social Democrats and received parliamentary approval.

He traveled to Brussels on Friday for one of his first official visits, holding bilateral meetings with NATO chief Mark Rutte and top European Union officials.