German state leader to mark landmark labour deal with Turkey

The leader of Germany's most populous state, Hendrik Wüst, will set off on Monday for a three-day trip to Turkey to mark the 65th anniversary of a landmark German-Turkish labour agreement.

The recruitment agreement led to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Turkish workers in Germany, known as "guest workers." 

Wüst is the premier of the industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the first trip by a North Rhine-Westphalian head of government to Turkey.

According to government sources, Wüst will first fly to the capital Ankara where political talks are planned. He will then travel on to Istanbul on Tuesday. The programme there includes an economic conference and the presentation of a prize for tolerance and reconciliation between cultures to the former captain of the German national football team, Ilkay Gündogan.

One third of all people with Turkish roots in Germany live in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The annual trade volume between Germany's most populous state and Turkey totals €10 billion-€12 billion ($11.4 billion-$13.7 billion), about 20% of the total German-Turkish trade volume.