UPDATE- Turkish FM: Germany should focus on its own problems

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s foreign minister on Monday criticized German politicians sparring in a weekend debate for focusing on Turkey rather than Germany’s own pressing problems.

"The debate started with Turkey and ended with Turkey. The election isn’t taking place in Turkey, it is taking place in Germany,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Slovenia while attending a foreign policy forum.

“Do German politicians have any other messages to present to their people besides Turkey? How will they solve the problems in Germany?"

Three weeks before Sept. 24 general elections, German 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 €4 billion ($4.68 billion) in pre-accession funds.

Cavusoglu said German politicians should have talked instead about the rising racism in Germany and Europe, Islamophobia, antisemitism, the European economy, and the future of the European Union.

"Looking at these debates, we see populism at its peak. Europe must get rid itself of this political populism," Cavusoglu stressed.

He said when one side takes populist stances, the other side fears losing votes if it does not do the same.

"This is a serious weakness for centrist politics. Centrist parties have lost a lot of ground," Cavusoglu added.

He said Europe is returning to pre-World War II values of fascism and intolerance.

Cavusoglu also decried how despite constant German lectures on human rights, it is ignoring the plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims.

"Was anything said on yesterday's TV program about the persecution of Muslims in Rakhine state?”, asked Cavusoglu. “I heard nothing. Why don't you raise your voice? Because they fear losing votes if they bring up the persecution of Muslims there," he stressed.

He added: "This is a very sad picture. If you’re so sensitive about human rights, where are you?"

-‘Stop the careless language’

Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik also criticized Sunday’s debate, urging German politicians to stop using careless language.

“Mentioning stopping Turkey’s [EU membership] talks means attacking the EU’s founding values," Celik wrote, asking: "Is this Schulz’s mission?”

During the debate, Social Democrat Party (SPD) leader Schulz said if he becomes chancellor, he will cancel Turkey’s EU membership talks.

“These politicians are unaware what the EU is,” he said, adding that they confuse the EU with “the United States of Germany.”

Celik urged German politicians to abandon the “careless” language they have been using.

“Having good relations between Turkey and Germany benefits everyone," he said.

*Nilay Kar Onum also contributed to this story from Istanbul.