Europe should forge a deeper strategic partnership with Turkey in response to emerging global challenges, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday on his first official visit to Ankara, which has played a crucial mediating role in the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Merz was speaking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, just days after Turkey and the United Kingdom finalised a multi-billion-euro deal for the sale of 20 Eurofighter Typhoon jets.

Germany, part of the consortium that manufactures the advanced fighter aircraft, recently lifted its longstanding objection to their export to Turkey.

Merz’s visit also comes amid reports of German backing for Turkey’s participation in a European defence initiative known as the Security Action for Europe (SAFE), a €150 billion programme designed to enhance the continent’s military capabilities.

The initiative allows non-EU countries, including Turkey, to join defence projects.

Greece openly opposes Turkey’s participation in SAFE, arguing that Ankara must first drop its standing threat of war linked to sea boundary disputes between the two NATO members.

Merz did not mention SAFE but underscored the importance of cooperation.

“Germany and Turkey should use the enormous potential of our relations even better in the coming months and years,” he said.

“There are compelling reasons for this, because we are entering a new geopolitical phase marked by the politics of great powers,” the chancellor said.

“A central conclusion from that for me is that as Germans and Europeans, we must expand our strategic partnerships, and there is no way around a good and deepened partnership with Turkey.”

Divisions surfaced during the joint news conference over human rights and the situation in Gaza.

The advocacy group, Human Rights Watch, had urged Merz to speak out against Turkey’s crackdown on the opposition, including the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

The opposition figure, widely seen as a potential challenger to Erdoğan, has been held in pretrial detention since March on corruption charges, which he denies. This week, Turkish authorities filed new charges against him for alleged espionage.

Merz avoided direct mention of İmamoğlu but said: “Decisions have been made in Turkey that do not yet meet the requirements regarding the rule of law and democracy as we understand them from the European point of view.”

Erdoğan responded by defending Turkey’s judicial system.

“No matter what position you hold, if you trample on the law, judicial authorities in a state governed by the rule of law are obliged to take whatever action is necessary,” he said.

On the issue of Gaza, Merz said that Germany has stood firmly by Israel since it was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust and will always do so. But “that doesn’t mean that we respect or accept every political decision by an Israeli government and accept it without criticism.”

Merz has frequently criticised Israel’s actions in Gaza in recent months.

On Thursday, he stressed that “Israel made use of its right of self-defence and it would have taken only a single decision to avoid the countless unnecessary victims: Hamas should have released the hostages earlier and laid down its weapons. Then this war would have been over immediately.”

Erdoğan, a vocal critic of Israel’s military actions, again accused Israel of using “starvation and genocide” as weapons of war.

The Turkish leader argued that Hamas does not possess bombs or nuclear weapons, while Israel does, and criticised Germany for allegedly ignoring the imbalance.

“As Germany, can’t you see this?” he asked.

Additional sources • AP

Colin Farrell revealed to Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show” that Tom Cruise “was not happy” with him during the making of Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report.” Farrell was in the midst of his substance abuse struggles during production and went out partying the night before his birthday, which happened to be a filming day.

“I had one of the worst days I’ve ever had on a film set [on ‘Minority Report’],” Farrell admitted. “It was my birthday on May 31, and we were shooting, and I begged production — who did I think I was? — of a $120 million film if they [could] not have me working on my birthday. So of course my pickup was 6 a.m. on May 31, and I got up to all sorts of nonsense the night before. And I remember getting into bed, and as soon as I turned off the light the phone rang and it was the driver, [who] said, ‘It’s 10 past 6.’ And I went, ‘Oh, shit.’” 

Farrell was disheveled when he showed up on the “Minority Report” set, so much so that assistant director David H. Venghaus Jr. stopped him and said: “You can’t go to the set like this.’”

“And I went, ‘Just get me six Pacifico Cervezas and a packet of 20 [Marlboro] Red,’” Farrell said. “Now, listen, it’s not cool because two years later I went to rehab, right? But it worked in the moment. All the holy people that we look to on how to live a life would say the present is all that counts.”

Farrell “had a couple of beers” and went to set and “it was terrible,” he said. “I will never forget the line I had that I couldn’t get out. It was, ‘I’m sure you’ve all grasped the fundamental paradox of pre-crime methodology.’ That was the line that started the scene. I remember [the crew] coming up and saying, ‘Do you want to go out and take a breath of fresh air?’ And I remember thinking, ‘If I go out and take a breath of fresh air, then I’ll be under more pressure when I come back in to be better.’ And I went, ‘No, we’ll just go through it.’”

“We did 46 takes,” Farrell revealed. “Tom wasn’t very happy with me. Tom, who I love, was not very happy!”

Loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s 1956 novella, “Minority Report” is set in a future where police apprehend criminals by using psychics who give them foreknowledge of the impending crime. Cruise’s police chief is framed for a crime he did not commit, forcing him on the run. Farrell plays the police agent assigned with bringing Cruise’s character in. The movie was a critical favorite and grossed a strong $358 million worldwide.

Watch Farrell’s full interview on “The Late Show” in the video below.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced the U.S. military on Wednesday struck another boat carrying people he claims were narco-terrorists.

The strikes were carried out in the Eastern Pacific region at the direction of President Donald Trump, killing four men on board, according to Hegseth.

The military “carried out a lethal kinetic strike on yet another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Eastern Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on X.

“This vessel, like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” he said. “Four male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel — and killed — during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. No U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.”

US STRIKES ANOTHER ALLEGED DRUG-TRAFFICKING BOAT NEAR VENEZUELA, KILLING 4

“The Western Hemisphere is no longer a safe haven for narco-terrorists bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans,” Hegseth added. “The Department of War will continue to hunt them down and eliminate them wherever they operate.”

This is the 14th strike on suspected drug boats carried out since September. A total of 61 have reportedly been killed while three survived, including at least two who were later repatriated to their home countries.

The Pentagon has refused to release the identities of those killed or evidence of drugs on board.

US DEPLOYS FORD CARRIER STRIKE GROUP TO COMBAT NARCO-TERROR IN WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced the U.S. military struck another boat carrying who he claims were narco-terrorists. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

The Trump administration has been scrutinized in recent weeks over the strikes, including by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who raised concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people.

Paul has cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded for suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.

The senator has also argued that if the administration plans to engage in a war with Venezuela after it has targeted boats it claims are transporting drugs for the Venezuela-linked Tren de Aragua gang, it must seek a declaration of war from Congress.

The Pentagon has refused to release the identities of those killed or evidence of drugs on board. (Reuters)

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Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also penned a letter Wednesday demanding to review the legal justification behind the series of boat strikes they say appear to violate several laws.

“Drug trafficking is a terrible crime that has had devastating impacts on American families and communities and should be prosecuted. Nonetheless, the President’s actions to hold alleged drug traffickers accountable must still conform with the law,” the letter states.