Speaking at the government press conference, government spokesperson Steffen Seibert explained that the EU has been conducting open-ended accession negotiations with Turkey for many years. The German government sticks to its view that "under the current circumstances it is inconceivable that additional chapters can be opened in these negotiations," he reported.

In this context, Steffen Seibert pointed to the repressive measures taken against members of the opposition, the media and the scientific community in Turkey. This must be taken into account in discussions within the framework of EU negotiations, he said.

"We owe it to the people"

At the same time, Steffen Seibert continued, the German government "also has a duty not to lose sight of our overall relations with Turkey". Over a period of several decades, Germany and the European Union have woven a very close mesh of relations with Turkey.

Germany alone is home to about three million people with Turkish roots. "We are interested in upholding these relations and – even if this is not easy at the moment – in further developing relations. We owe it to the people in Germany, we owe it to the people in Turkey, and we owe it to the people of Europe."