"The negotiating process, which is considered as panacea for Turkish accession to Europe, has not brought anything. Turkey is [moving] further and further away. If anyone, as Juncker does, promises to the Turks that we will conduct talks with you and at the same moment says that Turkey will not join in any case, then it is not a reasonable stance in regard to either Turks or Europeans," Kern said in an interview with the Oesterreich daily newspaper published on Saturday.
At the same time, Kern added that he considered Ankara a partner, but in a quite different form of cooperation.
Earlier in August, Kern called on the European Union to discuss quitting accession talks with Turkey, as Ankara's economic measures were not in line with the standards of the 28-nation bloc and because of repressive measures taken by Ankara following a thwarted coup attempt.
