Merkel to Visit Turkey for Talks with Erdogan, Gul

Chancellor Angela Merkel will embark on a two-day visit to Turkey starting Sunday, her spokesman said, taking with her a delegation of German business chiefs and visiting German troops.

On February 24, Merkel will visit German military stationed in the southeastern city of Kahramanmaras, Steffen Seibert told a regular government briefing here.

The German soldiers are operating Patriot missiles as part of a NATO mission to protect the Turkish border from any spillover of the conflict in neighboring Syria.

The following day, she will travel to Ankara for talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, said Seibert, adding that more precise details had yet to be nailed down.

Merkel will be accompanied by a "high-level business delegation", Seibert added.

"Chancellor Merkel will also hold talks, along with Prime Minister Erdogan, with German and Turkish business representatives and take part in a Germano-Turkish economic forum," Seibert said.