Merkel wants EU to halt Turkish accession talks

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that Turkey was fast abandoning the rule of law and vowed to push her EU partners to consider suspending or ending its accession talks at a meeting in October.

Less than three weeks before a German national election, she spelled out her intentions clearly to the Bundestag lower house of parliament after sharpening her rhetoric on Sunday and saying Turkey should not become an EU member.

Those comments, made in a televised debate with her Social Democrat (SPD) election rival Martin Schulz, drew charges of populism from Ankara. It was the latest in a series of spats between Merkel and Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan over the last two years which has led to a serious deterioration in relations.

A screen that shows the TV debate between German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and her challenger Martin Schulz in Berlin, Germany, September 3, 2017. /Reuters Photo

'Rethink of EU-Turkey relations'

"Turkey is moving away from the path of the rule of law at a very fast speed," Merkel said, adding her government would do everything it could to secure the release of Germans detained in Turkey, who Berlin says are innocent.

Germany's Foreign Ministry said last week 12 German citizens, four of them with dual citizenship, had been detained in Turkey on political charges. One has since been released.

The ministry updated its travel advice on Tuesday and said that "incomprehensible" arrests were taking place all over Turkey, including regions frequented by tourists.

Venting her growing frustration, Merkel said a rethink of Germany's and the EU's relations with Turkey was needed.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) greets Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan at the beginning of the G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, July 7, 2017. /AFP Photo

"We will also – and I will suggest this takes place at the EU meeting in October – discuss future relations with Turkey, including the question of suspending or ending talks on accession," she said.

"I will push for a decisive stand ... But we need to coordinate and work with our partners," she said, adding that it would damage the EU if Erdogan saw member states embroiled in an argument. "That would dramatically weaken Europe's position."

Turkey accuses Merkel of encouraging Islamophobia

Turkey on Monday accused German politicians of surrendering to populism and urged them to give up their "careless language."

Turkish European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik said discussion over "ending negotiations with Turkey is an attack on the EU's founding values."

Celik hit back at German politicians using "careless language" and "trying to give orders to EU institutions... they think the EU is the 'United States of Germany'."

He added the attitude of some German politicians was to "build a Berlin Wall with bricks of populism," accusing Merkel of taking a position against Turkey to "avoid falling behind."

Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan greets his supporters in Catalca near Istanbul, Turkey, September 4, 2017. /AFP Photo

The Turkish Foreign Ministry accused German politicians of encouraging Islamophobia, adding that Turkey had helped Europe during "large chaos" when refugees fled to the continent during the 2015 migrant crisis.

Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu said Europe "was turning to the values of the pre-Second World War era... savagery, fascism, violence, intolerance."

Earlier, Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said attacks on Turkey were a "surrender to populism and marginalization (and) hostility (which) only fuels discrimination and racism."

Although Turkey's foreign minister has said EU membership remains a strategic goal, the EU has turned very skeptical – especially since Erdogan's crackdown on opponents after a failed coup in July 2016.

A European Commission spokesman said on Monday Turkey was taking "giant strides" away from Europe.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters