[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] German Chancellor Angela Merkel...current chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as
Mom...
said Sunday that she would ask the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
to call off membership talks with
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, amid escalating tensions between Berlin and Ankara.
"I don’t see them ever joining and I had never believed that it would happen," she said during a televised debate with Martin Schulz, her Social Democratic rival in elections later this month.
She added that she would speak with her EU counterparts to see if "we can end these membership talks".
Merkel’s tough stance came after Turkey locked away
You have the right to remain silent...
two more German citizens this past week "for political reasons", infuriating Berlin.
The arrests brought the number of German political prisoners in
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
allies were already at an all-time low.
The plunge in relations began after Berlin sharply criticized Ankara over the crackdown that followed last year’s failed coup attempt.
The arrest of several German nationals, including the
Yucel has now spent 200 days in jug ahead of a trial on terror charges.
German journalist Mesale Tolu has been held on similar charges since May, while human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
activist Peter Steudtner was arrested in a July raid.
After Steudtner’s arrest, Germany vowed stinging measures impacting tourism and investment in Turkey and a full "overhaul" of their troubled relations.
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
, for his part, has also sparked outrage after charging that Germany is sheltering plotters of last year’s coup, as well as Kurdish Lions of Islam and terrorists, and demanded their extradition.
Erdogan added to the tensions this month when he urged ethnic Turks in Germany to vote against Merkel’s conservatives and their coalition partners, the Social Democrats, in September 24 elections.
The escalating tensions have split the