Bavarian Interior Minister Demands to Stop Turkish EU Accession Talks

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On April 16, the Turkish voters supported constitutional amendments expanding the powers of country's president. On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that one more referendum could be held in the country — on the issue of the necessity to join the European Union.

"The European Union should end negotiations on Turkish EU accession. Not to pause them, not to suspend, but to end! We should not lie to ourselves no more: we do not have common prospects with Turkey under Erdogan," Interior Minister of Germany's Bavaria Joachim Herrmann told the Bild am Sonntag news outlet.

Ankara signed an association agreement with the then-European Economic Community in 1963, and submitted a membership application in 1987. Talks on Turkey's EU membership  began in 2005 but have been repeatedly suspended due to various obstacles.

Within the framework of the refugee deal signed by Ankara and Brussels, the European Union agreed to provide Turkey with support in its accession in exchange to measures aimed at tackling migration to the European continent.