Merkel bending to populism with EU accession threat, says Turkey

Bloomberg

A top adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed “populist” exchanges during Germany’s election campaign after Chancellor Angela Merkel said she’ll urge European Union leaders to decide whether to suspend or end Turkey’s accession to the bloc.
The Turkish lira and bonds dropped on Tuesday as Merkel told the lower house of parliament in Berlin that she’ll bring up the future of Turkey’s bid to join the EU with fellow leaders in October, raising the prospect of a formal end to Turkish accession. Her comments expanded on remarks she made on Sunday in a televised debate with her main election challenger, Martin Schulz, when both candidates criticized Erdogan.
German politicians are using Turkey as political fodder to win votes in the September 24 federal election, according to Gulnur Aybet, a senior adviser to Erdogan on foreign policy.
“Obviously populist banter in which candidates vie with each other over
who can bash Turkey more effectively sells better in German politics than the real issues concerning the EU, like Brexit,” Aybet said in emailed remarks to Bloomberg.
While EU talks with Turkey are effectively stalled, the escalating rhetoric risks further stoking tensions with Erdogan who has made repeated references to Germany’s Nazi past and said that Germany is becoming “racist.”
Relations between Turkey and its largest trading partner turned hostile after Turkey arrested a German-Turkish journalist in February and Germany refused to allow Turkish ministers to campaign for expatriate Turks’ votes before a referendum in April that expanded Erdogan’s powers. Germany moved its troops from the Incirlik air base to Jordan after Turkey refused to allow visits by German lawmakers. In her speech to lower-house lawmakers, Merkel referred to further arrests of German nationals in Turkey and said that her government will push at all levels for their release.