North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Hendrik Wüst will begin a three-day Turkey visit on Monday to mark 65 years since the labour pact that brought hundreds of thousands of Turkish workers to Germany. His itinerary includes talks in Ankara and events in Istanbul.
The visit also marks 80 years of North Rhine-Westphalia and is the first trip to Turkey by a head of government from the state. On Tuesday in Istanbul, Wüst is due at an economic conference and to present former Germany captain Ilkay Gündogan with a prize for tolerance and reconciliation between cultures.
A third of people with Turkish roots in Germany live in North Rhine-Westphalia. The state government says annual trade with Turkey is €10 billion to €12 billion—about 20% of German-Turkish trade—and more than 1,200 Turkish companies operate there. It also says one in three flights from Germany to Turkey last year departed from a North Rhine-Westphalia airport.
