Martin Schulz

Turkey's European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik said on Monday that any talk of ending his country's negotiations for EU accession amounted to an "attack on Europe's founding principles."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel defeated Social Democrat Martin Schulz in a TV debate last night, according to a study by ARD Television.

Turkey on Sept. 4 harshly criticized the hardened tone used by German officials adopting an "anti-Turkey stance" and obstructing Ankara's EU prospects weeks before the country's Sept. 24 federal elections, amid ongoing tension between the two NATO allies.

The stance adopted by Germany and other European countries "attacking Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan" is a reflection of Europe's "narrowing horizon," presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said on Sept. 4.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the comfortable winner of Sunday night’s TV debate against her political rival Martin Schulz of the Social Democrats, according to a phone poll by state broadcaster ARD. The poll showed Mrs. Merkel received a 55% positive response compared to her opponent who got only 35%.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Sept. 2 dismissed Berlin's reaction to the arrest of German citizens in Turkey, local media have reported, a row which is worsening the nations' already fraying ties.

"When we arrest [a coup plotter] Germany starts to get upset. But what are we supposed to do?" Çavuşoğlu said.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder hit back at those criticising him for taking a job at a Russian energy company, saying some of his critics wanted to push Germany into a "new Cold War."

The critics include his successor as chancellor, Angela Merkel, who is campaigning to win her fourth term in elections to be held Sept. 24.

More than 1,000 criminal complaints for high treason have been filed against German Chancellor Angela Merkel since the height of the refugee crisis in 2015, local media reported yesterday.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Aug. 28 sharply condemned a leader of the right-wing populist AfD party who called for an official with Turkish roots to be "dumped" in Anatolia, saying such comments recall Germany's "worst memories."

With a month to go until Germans head to the polls, Angela Merkel looks set to cruise to a fourth term as chancellor of a country showing little appetite for change.

"Merkel or Merkel -- is that Germany's only choice?" the nation's main Sunday talk show asked, as opinion surveys showed Merkel's conservatives widening their lead over the rival Social Democrats.