Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has said the EU should not treat Turkey any differently than any other country seeking to join the union.
Mr Schröder will tell the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan today that Berlin fully backs Turkey's EU aspirations but that Ankara "must make its contribution to the resolution of the Cyprus question".
"If Turkey fulfils the Copenhagen criteria, which means democracy and rule of law are ensured, human rights are kept and minorities are appropriately protected, then accession negotiations can start," said Mr Schröder in an interview with the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.
Mr Schröder is the first German chancellor to visit Turkey since 1993.
The trip will be closely watched back in Germany by the two million Turks and Germans of Turkish origin, the legacy of the migration of so-called guest worker recruitment since the 1960s.
Mr Schröder hopes his trip will help move forward the accession issue, expected to dominate the 14 local, state and European elections to be held in Germany this year.
The European election campaign began unofficially last week when Dr Angela Merkel, leader of the opposition Christian Democrats, suggested that Turkey should be granted a "privileged partnership" based on a free-trade zone rather than full EU membership.
Ankara rejected the suggestion out of hand and Mr Schröder called it "populism at the expense of Germany's Turkish community" that would only "poison the political climate" in Germany.
Dr Lale Akgün, an SPD MP of Turkish birth, attacked Dr Merkel for reportedly asking during her trip where Anatolia was.
"Anatolia makes up 90 per cent of Turkish territory. Whoever doesn't know where Anatolia is should not want to decide where Europe ends politically," said Dr Akgün.
