Angela Merkel will not run for CDU party chair again

October 29, 2018 By administrator

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she will not run again as the leader of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), but will remain chancellor until 2021. Her conservatives suffered massive losses in two state elections.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has confirmed that she will not be running for re-election as party leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Merkel said she still plans on remaining in her post as chancellor, but will step down in 2021 when her current term finishes. She once said that party leadership and chancellorship must go hand-in-hand.
Her decision follows heavy losses for her conservatives in two recent regional elections, most recently on Sunday in Hesse.
Merkel allies and critics are stepping up to replace Merkel, including CDU Secretary General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Health Minister Jens Spahn, and former CDU/CSU parliamentary bloc leader Friedrich Merz.

Merkel says we should “wait and see” who would replace her as the CDU head.

“I am someone who can work very well together wit a lot of different people, and I think I have a reputation for it.”

13:40 SPD chief Andrea Nahles says Merkel has done an “extraodinary” job at the helm of the CDU, steering it out of deep crisis. Nahles also told reporters that changes at the top of the CDU might benefit the grand coalition by smoothing over conflicts between the partners.

Angela Merkel: to rescue her friend Erdogan with another 3 billion Euro for Syrian refugees

July 1, 2018 By administrator

European leaders struggled to overcome deep divisions on migration at a tense EU summit that dragged into the early morning hours of June 29 before yielding vague pledges to strengthen external borders, explore new migrant centres and give Turkey second tranche of 3 billion Euro for Syrian refugees.

The meeting in Brussels, dominated by a nine-hour dinner, underscored how Europe’s 2015 spike in immigration continues to haunt the bloc despite a sharp drop in arrivals of people fleeing conflict and economic hardship in the Middle East and Africa.

It took place in an atmosphere of political crisis, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel under intense political pressure at home and a new eurosceptic Italian government threatening to torpedo any deal that did not meet its demands, Hurriyet Daily News reports.A bleary-eyed Merkel, speaking to reporters at 5 a.m. (0300 GMT), tried to put a positive spin on the result, saying it was a good signal that leaders had been able to agree a common text on the controversial migration issue.

But she acknowledged that the bloc still had “a lot of work to do to bridge the different views.” “Italy is not alone anymore,” said Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

French President Emmanuel Macron said European cooperation had “won the day”.

In a final statement full of convoluted language meant to satisfy the divergent views, the leaders agreed to set up joint asylum processing sites and restrict migrant moves within the bloc, but they made clear that virtually all of their pledges would be carried out on a “voluntary basis” by member states.

They also agreed to tighten their external border and increase financing for Turkey, Morocco and other North African states to prevent migration to Europe.

It was unclear whether the deal would prove sufficient to appease Merkel’s coalition partner, the Christian Social Union (CSU), which has threatened to shut Bavaria’s border to migrants — a move which could trigger the collapse of her three-month-old government as well as the EU’s Schengen zone of free travel.

Chancellor Angela Merkel weighs tougher approach to Turkey after arrests

September 1, 2017 By administrator

German Chancellor Merkel has called for a rethink of Berlin’s attitude towards Ankara after Turkey detained two more German citizens. Relations between the countries have been deteriorating since the failed 2016 coup.

There is “no legal basis” for detention in most of these cases, Merkel said, referring to the two Germans arrested on Thursday in Turkey, bringing the total number of German citizens detained in the country for political reasons to 12.

“That’s why we need to react decisively here,” she said, adding that the government would “perhaps have to rethink” its relations with Turkey.

Merkel said Germany had already “significantly revamped” its ties with Ankara, but that the latest events meant “perhaps it is necessary to rethink them ever further,” adding that there would be no further talks about Ankara’s participation in an EU customs union until the current situation is resolved.

“Our demands to Turkey are very clear,” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said. “We expect Turkey to release the German nationals who were arrested on unjustifiable grounds.”

Relations between the NATO allies have been frayed since Berlin criticized Ankara over the crackdown that followed last year’s failed coup attempt.

Arrested developments

The arrest of the two Germans on Thursday brings to 55 the number of Germans detained in Turkey, 12 of whom are being detained for political reasons and four of these have dual German-Turkish citizenship – including the German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, now 200 days in detention – the German Foreign Ministry said.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported that two German citizens of Turkish origin had been detained at Antalya Airport for alleged links to the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara has accused of organizing last year’s attempted coup.

Confusion reigns

Germany has not officially been informed of the two new detentions, which took place at Antalya Airport on Thursday.

Berlin’s consulate in the coastal city of Izmir learned of their arrest from “non-state sources,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr told a news conference.

“We’re trying to establish what they are charged with,” said Adebahr said. “We must assume that it’s a political charge, suspicion of terrorism, as with the others.”

Diplomats had not been able to contact them, she added, with Friday’s public holiday celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha a possible reason for delays in contacting officials.

To formally warn German travelers?

There are calls for Berlin to issue a formal travel warning for Germans heading to Turkey. The government in July urged German citizens to exercise caution if traveling to Turkey but didn’t issue a formal travel warning.

Social Democrat Martin Schulz, Merkel’s main challenger in the September 24 elections, on Friday said more measures were needed to make clear Germany’s ire with Turkey over the detainments, adding that a formal warning against travel to Turkey would be one possible step.

Jürgen Hardt, a senior member of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), told Die Welt newspaper that a further tightening of the travel guidance “should be seriously considered.”

Cem Ozdemir, one of the leaders of the Green party, told Bild newspaper he could no longer assure anyone they would be safe in Turkey. “Erdogan is no president, but a hostage-taker,” Ozdemir told the daily newspaper Bild.

Following the arrest of human rights activist Peter Steudtner earlier this year, Berlin promised measures to impact tourism and investment in Turkey and a full “overhaul” of relations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in August called on ethnic Turks in Germany to vote for Schultz in the elections, then said they should not support any of Germany’s main parties.

jbh/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)

Turkish Dictator Erdogan tells German Turks not to vote for Angela Merkel, CDU, SPD or Greens

August 18, 2017 By administrator

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed Germany’s three main political parties as “enemies of Turkey” ahead of parliamentary elections. The comments drew a swift rebuke from Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday told Turks living in Germany they should punish mainstream German parties in September’s parliamentary elections.

“I am calling on all my countrymen in Germany to not make the mistake of supporting them,” he said, singling out Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, the Social Democrats and the Greens as “enemies of Turkey.”

Instead he urged Turks to “support those political parties who are not enemies of Turkey,” calling it a “struggle of honor.”

Merkel sharply rebuked his remarks, rejecting Erdogan’s “meddling” and pointing out that “German voters, including the ones with Turkish background, have a right to vote freely.”

“We will not stand for any kind of interference,” she said from a Friday campaign event in Herford, northwest Germany.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel was also quick to condemn Erdogan’s comments, telling the RedaktionsNetzwerk media group they amounted to an “unprecedented act of interference in the sovereignty of our country.”

He accused the Turkish leader of seeking to incite people against each other, and urged voters to “show those who want to play us against each other that we will not participate in this evil game.”

Relations between the two NATO allies have become increasingly strained in the wake of last year’s failed coup in Turkey. One key point of contention is Ankara’s jailing of German nationals – a journalist and a human rights worker – amid the thousands of people who have been arrested in a post-coup crackdown. Turkey, meanwhile, has accused Berlin of protecting suspects alleged to have played a role in the coup attempt.

“I call on them not to vote for those parties who have been engaged in such aggressive, disrespectful attitudes against Turkey, and I invite them to teach a lesson to those political parties at the ballot box,” Erdogan said.

CDU leader Angela Merkel is running for a fourth term as chancellor in federal elections on September 24. Around one-third of the 3 million Turks living in Germany are eligible to cast votes.