Germany Rejects Demands to Halt Turkey's Bid to Join the European Union

Germany rejected on Friday demands to halt Turkey's bid to join the European Union, even as some EU states said Ankara's membership dream was dead after Turks voted to grant President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers, Reuters reported.

Increasingly worried with what the European Union sees as Erdogan's growing authoritarianism, EU lawmakers called this week for a formal suspension of Turkey's long-stalled EU bid, saying it does not meet democratic standards.

But German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who will discuss the issue on Friday with his EU counterparts and with Turkey's top diplomat Mevlut Cavusoglu, said such a step would be counterproductive.

"The German government is strictly against cancelling the accession talks, that would be totally the wrong reaction," he told reporters as he arrived for the meeting in Malta.

"Those who would like to win applause at home because they say 'We do not talk to Turkey any more' will not change anything in Turkey," he said.

Austria has led calls to abort the process, which was launched in 2005 and has been frozen by political obstacles over Cyprus and resistance in some EU states to let in the majority Muslim country, even before this month's referendum.

"It would be absolutely wrong to stick to the illusion of accession to the EU," Austria's Sebastian Kurz said.

Erdogan narrowly won a referendum to implement the biggest overhaul of Turkey's political system since the modern state was established nearly a century ago.

Supporters say it will give Turkey stability but EU officials and Turkey's opposition say it is the beginning of one-man rule.

Erdogan's security crackdown following a failed coup last July, his 'Nazi' jibes against...