Germany Refocuses Economic Relations with Türkiye
Exploring Germany’s renewed focus towards strategic sectors in economic partnership with Türkiye
May 13th, 2025
Germany and Türkiye share a solid and longstanding economic relationship, with Germany standing as Türkiye’s most important trading partner and one of its largest foreign investors. Under Germany’s new government, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Berlin is expected to pursue a more pragmatic approach to its foreign policy, placing renewed emphasis on deepening economic cooperation with Türkiye in key strategic sectors.
With Merz becoming the new German Chancellor, expectations rise around several policy shifts, notably in foreign relations. His stance on Türkiye marks a more pragmatic approach, aiming to strengthen economic cooperation, perceived as essential knowing Germany’s crucial role within the European Union framework and Türkiye’s strategic role in NATO along with its proximity to Europe.
Bilateral trade reached a record with 55 Billion euros in 2023, Ankara targets 60 billion euros in the near future. The new government’s economic approach with Türkiye is expected to focus on developing trade in sectors related to energy transition and supply chain, along with security and defense. Platforms as the Turkish-German Energy Partnership and “Partnering in Business with Germany” will be key drivers facilitating politics and business dialogue between the two countries.
In the energy sector for instance, the Turkish-German Energy Partnership hosted a networking event on May 8, 2025, with Turkish Energy Services Companies. It promoted energy efficiency as a profitable opportunity and explored cooperation perspectives between German and Turkish firms. The presence at this event of Bilal Düzgün, Head of Directorate for Energy Efficiency and Environment in the Ministry for Energy and Natural Resources, underlines the political and economic will to advance cooperation in a sector vital for competitiveness, cost reduction, and sustainability. Simultaneously, the “Partnering in Business with Germany” program by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action aims to continue fostering innovation and economic integration for both countries, serving as leverage to modernize and simplify economic framework, as advocated by the new government, with Türkiye.
With approximately 80,000 Turkish-German enterprises operating in Germany, employing nearly 500,000 people in 50 different sectors, and around 8,000 German companies operating in Türkiye, emphasizing trade development in strategic sectors will be an opportunity for cultural diplomacy to reinforce relationships and contribute to strengthened economic exchanges.
References:
- https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/laenderinformationen/tuerkei-node/Türkiye-228290 https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/laenderinformationen/tuerkei-node/Türkiye-228290
- https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/Türkiyesource/how-germanys-incoming-government-will-work-with-Türkiye/ https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/Türkiyesource/how-germanys-incoming-government-will-work-with-Türkiye/
- https://energypartnership-Türkiye.org/past-events-1/08042025-in-duisburg-energy-efficiency-as-an-opportunity-for-industry/ https://energypartnership-Türkiye.org/past-events-1/08042025-in-duisburg-energy-efficiency-as-an-opportunity-for-industry/
- https://ihk-event.de/b?p=inside-tuerkiye-2025-05&utm_ https://ihk-event.de/b?p=inside-tuerkiye-2025-05&utm_
