Turkish minister urges Merkel to stick to her words

Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik on Monday asked the German chancellor to hold on to her words that the two countries should engage in talks.

“We invite [Angela] Merkel back to her own words,” Celik said, during an interview with Turkish private broadcaster NTV.

Celik was referring to Merkel’s visit to the US this March, where she had said that her moto was to talk to each other, and not about each other.

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“Turkey and our president are becoming part of Germany’s internal politics and not a single day passes in Germany when they are not talked about,” he said.

Celik said the debate about Turkey, turned into a campaign after racist parties entered the discussion, adding that Merkel and Martin Schulz, who leads Germany’s main opposition Social Democratic Party, had lost votes when compared to previous polls.

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On the question whether Germany’s negative statements towards Turkey will end after the German general election on 24 September., Celik said that there will be “a certain softening”.

Celik said that neither Germany nor Turkey benefit from the negative news German media is producing against Turkey.

He added that the European Parliament’s involvement was the reason why the Customs Union became part of politics.