Germany demands changes in the policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the exchange for economic aid, Juergen Hardt, a senior member of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee said in an interview to Bloomberg Television.  

“We have common interests concerning refugee policy, but we also have big differences,” Juergen Hardt said adding that Germany wants Turkey to respect media freedoms, release Germans jailed for political reasons and refrain from inflaming the war in Syria.

The situation in Turkey resonates particularly in Germany, its largest economic partner, where a large Turkish community lives. While German officials say that Berlin has not yet offered economic assistance to Ankara.

According to him, Turkey should first seek help from the IMF, not Germany or the EU.

The influence of Berlin can be the key to any European measures to stabilize Turkey, the source noted.

Merkel’s government had earlier denied Der Spiegel's message that Finance Minister Olaf Scholz urged his Turkish counterpart, Berat Albayrak, to seek an IMF aid program.

However, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel suspended the talks with the EU on the expansion of the customs union of the bloc with Turkey in September last year after the arrest of two German citizens, the EU proposal officially remains on the table. On its own, Germany could potentially offer a boost in export financing by its state-controlled development bank.

“After a war of words over democratic values sent relations to a low point a year ago, Germany’s invitation to host Erdogan on Sept. 28 represents an overture that underscores how President Donald Trump’s attacks on the global order are spurring Merkel to re-examine her alliances. Last weekend, she hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin one-on-one for the first time in more than five years,” the source noted.