Ankara slams anti-Turkish campaigns in Germany, Austria

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Monday criticized the anti-Turkish rhetoric used by German and Austrian politicians ahead of fall elections in those countries.

"We follow with regret the foundation of election campaigns of political leaders in Germany and Austria on an anti-Turkey basis and on preventing Turkey's EU membership," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement.

The statement added: "Turkey designates its own way and has a so rich belonging and future that it cannot be seen by the myopic point of view of the aforementioned countries' politicians."

The rhetoric used in election campaigns in Germany and Austria is troubling for Europe, it added.

The statement said that these politicians surrendering to a raw populism based in an anti-Turkish attitude instead of finding solutions to the political and economic challenges facing Europe endangers not only the continent but the entire world.

There is no doubt that this populist attitude will encourage the scourges of xenophobia, racism, and Islamophobia in Europe, where they are spreading.

"We want to remind the politicians, who were running behind us during the refugee crisis to save the EU from a great chaos, that not leaving relations with Turkey to the monopoly of populism bears great importance not only for the future of our bilateral relations but also for their political responsibility towards their citizens, including Turkish-origin ones," the statement stressed.

Three weeks before Germany’s Sept. 24 general elections, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her center-left rival Martin Schulz clashed over Turkey policy in a televised debate Sunday night, with Schulz making a surprise proposal to halt Ankara’s EU membership talks and freeze its pre-accession funds.