Tuesday, September 5, 2017

The War of Words Between Germany And Turkey Continues



Politico: Germany to push for tough line on Turkey with EU leaders

Chancellor Angela Merkel wants ‘determined course of action’ on whether to end or suspend membership talks.

BERLIN — Germany will push the European Union to reconsider its relationship with Turkey — including whether to suspend or terminate accession talks — at the next meeting of EU leaders in October, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday.

“I will advocate for a determined course of action on the question,” Merkel told the German parliament, looking ahead to the next meeting of the European Council on October 19-20.

Addressing the last plenary session of parliament before Germany’s September 24 general election, Merkel said it was important for the EU to face Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan en bloc and not to “fight over the question of our future dealing with Turkey in front of Erdoğan’s eyes.”

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More News On The War of Words Between Germany And Turkey

Another vote, another wrangle between Germany and Turkey -- France 24
Merkel wants EU to consider halting Turkish accession talks after vote -- Reuters
Germany warns against Turkey travel after spate of arrests -- Channel News Asia/Reuters
Turkey slams Germany's 'disrespectful messages' about Erdogan, democratic values -- CBC/AP
Turkish officials tell Berlin to 'mind its own business' over arrested Germans -- DW
Turkey accuses German politicians of 'bowing down to populism' -- CNN

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I spent some time in Istanbul about ten years ago. The discussion about Turkey joining the EU was already going on back then, believe it or not. Just a few days into my visit, I was horrified we'd even seriously consider. The cultural differences were too stark. And that was in the most modern area of the country. I love the Turks in most European countries - many of them hard working, decent, honest. .some integrate well, others not so much, but these kind of tensions are normal. Overall, with the amount of Turks to natives ratio it works still at acceptable levels. 10 years forward and I think it was the right decision back then to delay Tukey joining the EU and now it'd be wise to delay again. We can't let nations join who, from a cultural perspective are too far away from us. Too many of them joining would make integration attempts from both sides fail. It would be a guarantee for already moderate tensions to go higher. Especially under Erdogan.

Jac said...

Anonymous,
I agree with you. I went to Turkey too and I saw what you see. And on top of the cake I have a hard time to put Turkey in Europe: why not Japan or Brazil?