MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, the German Bild newspaper reported that Merkel at a closed session of the Christian Democratic Union expressed opposition to the launch of new talks with Ankara on accession to the European Union.
"It describes the real state of affairs. We pretended that we wanted to accept Turkey and Turkey pretended to be eager to become a part of the European Union. But if it really wanted to become the part of the European Union, it had to undergo radical changes," Ozdemir said in a statement, aired by the German ARD broadcaster.
Ozdemir noted that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not ready for the EU accession talks, since he "always provoking crises in his country and abroad, so that the citizens do not ask questions about the situation with the economy, jobs, high debts".
Ozdemir also expressed a thought that the deal on refugees with the European Union would apparently be reconsidered, because the "interests of Turkey under this agreement are at least the same high as the interests of German government".
Ankara and Brussels agreed on a deal in March, under which Turkey pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in the European Union through its territory in exchange for Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey, on a one-for-one basis.
In return, the bloc pledged to accelerate the Turkish EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime, as well as provide financial aid to Turkey to cover the costs of migrant reception.
