Cavusoglu sat with German colleague Gabriel

The Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlüt Cavusoglu, will visit his German colleague Sigmar Gabriel on Saturday.

Cavusoglu said on New Year's Eve that he counts on the countries to normalize their relations. The foreign relations of the Turkish government, under the leadership of the increasingly authoritarian president Erdogan, have suffered considerable damage during the past year, including relations with Germany and the Netherlands.

Ankara now sends conciliatory messages. Cavusoglu called Gabriel 'a personal friend with whom you do not have to agree on everything'. Erdogan was very positive about the relationship with the Netherlands, among others, last week. 'We have no problem with Germany, the Netherlands or Belgium,' he told journalists. 'On the contrary, the people who are in the governments of those countries are my old friends. '