German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have pledged further cooperation in the fight against terrorism during Merkel’s visit to Ankara, while the German leader also stressed the impartiality of her country’s courts regarding the extradition of Turkish coup attempt suspects. 

Many members of the international community are looking for a leader they can count on to carry the torch on the Sustainable Development Agenda. Could it be Germany, the third largest donor for development assistance after the U.S. and the United Kingdom, and its chancellor, who has taken a stand on issues ranging from climate change to the refugee crisis?

Never before had the chief executive officer of fast-food chain McDonald’s Germany sat at the table when Chancellor Angela Merkel met with captains of the country’s biggest corporations. [...] But the CEO, Holger Beeck, was there in September at the Bundeskanzleramt because McDonald’s has hired 900-plus refugees, more than any other company at the meeting. The subject of the meeting was integrating those fleeing war in Syria and other dire conditions.

Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong agreed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel here Friday to set up a high-level cultural exchange mechanism at the earliest possible date. [...] Establishing such a mechanism will promote the Sino-German exchanges and cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture and sports, she added.

Angela Merkel has become the first German chancellor to visit Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries. She has promised money and military vehicles to help the country fight human trafficking and the militant threat. She is on the second leg of a three-country African tour which started in Mali and will finish in Ethiopia.

A year has passed since Germany opened its doors to hundreds of thousands of refugees and Chancellor Angela Merkel uttered her famous mantra – Wir schaffen das. We can do it. Her critics at home have grown louder over the past year [...] But how has the refugee crisis impacted Germany's international reputation as a steadfast ally, an economic powerhouse and a country with a troubled history?

The leaders of Italy, France and Germany have been meeting on board the Italian aircraft carrier ‘Garibaldi.’ The trio planned to discuss several topics such as the migrant crisis as well as securing Europe’s internal and external borders following a string of Islamist militant attacks.

To bring back the topic to cultural diplomacy, I think Syrian refugees would be doing themselves a great favor if they show more keenness to integrate and respect the culture of their new home countries. In addition, Arab countries could do more by expressing gratitude and support (be it verbal or material) to the righteous positions taken by the likes of Angela Merkel...​