German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that Turkey should not become a member of the European Union and that she would seek a joint EU decision to that effect with the bloc’s other leaders.
“The fact is clear that Turkey should not become a member of the EU,” Merkel said on Sunday during a television debate with Martin Schulz, her Social Democratic rival in elections later this month.
According to AFP, she said she would speak with her EU counterparts to see if “we can end these membership talks.”
Schulz also said he would stop Turkey’s bid to join the EU if he were to be elected chancellor.
The comments are likely to worsen already strained ties between the two NATO allies after Merkel said on Friday Berlin should react decisively to Turkey’s politically motivated detention of two more German citizens.