Germany and Turkey gave the green light on Friday for a German-Turkish University based in Istanbul. In Berlin, Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, together with the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Annette Schavan, signed an agreement between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of the Republic of Turkey on the foundation of a German-Turkish University in Turkey. The traditionally close cooperation between Germany and Turkey in the academic sphere has thus gained a new dimension. The Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research will be working together closely on this project.
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The Federal Foreign Office has so far made available emergency aid totalling 2.6 million euro for those affected by the earthquake in China's Sichuan province. These funds have gone towards, among other things, a German Red Cross mobile hospital being set up in Dujiangyan. In addition, a team of the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) has set up six water purification units and Caritas International has procured 1,900 urgently needed tents.
Read more: China: mobile hospital from Germany arrived
On 25 May, more than three weeks after the cyclone Nargis struck, German aid workers, too, were finally allowed direct access to the victims and could start relief operations. "That's a real breakthrough", commented Gernot Erler, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, in Rangoon.
Read more: Hope for the people in Myanmar
In an interview with "Tribüne" magazine, Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he would like to see even closer ties established between Germans and Israelis. He is grateful that Israel now considers Germany to be one of its closest allies and friends – even within the lifetime of Holocaust survivors.
Read more: "Yom huledet same'akh!" – Happy Birthday, Israel
An agreement to settle the constitutional crisis in Lebanon has been negotiated, while Syria and Israel have entered into indirect talks under Turkey's auspices following years of stalemate. There has thus been movement in two of the most difficult conflicts in the Middle East which gives cause for hope. Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomes both developments and is offering Germany's support for the forthcoming talks.
Read more: Steinmeier welcomes progress in the Middle East
