Prospect of Turkey’s accession to European Union more unlikely: Germany

On Wednesday, Turkey threatened to scrap a critical deal on halting the flow of migrants to the European Union amid a spiralling war of words between Ankara and the bloc.

Gabriel’s interview came as a political crisis is unfolding between Turkey and several European countries that have banned pro-Erdogan rallies and events at which top-tier Turkish officials had been invited to speak. We are not applying the readmission agreement at the moment, and we are evaluating the refugee deal. Because you are the future of Europe. “If you want, we’ll send the 15,000 refugees to you that we don’t send each month and blow your mind”.

Germany’s government said Friday there was no sign that Turkey was actually letting people through and that it expected the deal to hold.

Turkish military use water cannon to stop Syrian refugees as they wait behind the border fences to cross into Turkey, near Akcakale in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, June 10, 2015.

“Turkey wants to remind the European Union of its role and of its importance to the European Union these statements …”

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told Bild am Sonntag newspaper Turkish accession to the EU “will not fail due to a lack of willingness on the part of EU members but rather due to Turkey not wanting to introduce European standards”.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte fended off the challenge of Wilders to score an election victory hailed across Europe by governments facing a rising wave of nationalism.

Erdogan, in response to the ban, accused the Netherlands of acting like “Nazi remnants” and having a “rotten” character, claiming the country was responsible for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian War.

Following the latest diplomatic crisis, mainstream German media have run articles about how Ankara has shackled Merkel’s policies towards Turkey by playing the card of scrapping the refugee deal.

The remarks came a day after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that the migration agreement struck a year ago between Turkey and the EU could be abolished in case the European Union does not grant a visa exemption to Turkish nationals.

One of the main routes to the West led through the Balkan countries, starting from Greece to Macedonia, Serbia and then further north, causing many headaches for the local authorities, including humanitarian and security concerns.