US Pastor's Case To Be Taken to Turkey's High Court

Ties between the two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries soured after Berlin criticised Ankara's crackdown on opponents following a failed 2016 coup, which saw tens of thousands arrested.

During his stay in Berlin, Erdogan met twice with Chancellor Angela Merkel for talks, with both leaders signalling their interest in a cautious rapprochement, but also disagreements in a wide variety of issues.

"We are leaving painful terms in the recent past with Germany behind", Erdogan said.

"The two parties are willing to move forward to get out of the impasse", said Ilke Yoygur, an analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid.

Erdogan billed the visit a success as he seeks more allies in Europe to counter the escalating tension between Turkey and the United States, the media reported.

Washington imposed sanctions on Turkey over the summer and Ankara imposed sanctions of its own, leading to an escalation that prompted a crash in value of the Turkish lira.

Erdogan has taken considerable flak for rights abuses at home.

This followed a state dinner the night before that was boycotted by several opposition politicians.

Turkey's exports also rose sharply in September, the trade ministry said, but Turkish manufacturing activity slid to its lowest level in nine years, a business survey showed.

Relations between Berlin and Ankara have deteriorated due to the arrest of German citizens in Turkey.

But the only concrete proclamation at the end of the meeting focused on the possible organization in October in Istanbul for a summit new Syria, focused on the fate of the last rebel stronghold of Idleb and bringing together Russia, Turkey, Germany and France.

"My feeling is that the path to normalisation will be long and arduous", he added.

The mosque opening "left behind a pile of shards in the German-Turkish relationship which can only be swept up with a lot of effort", said the president of the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD), Gokay Sofuoglu.