German politicians assails Merkel over agreement with Turkey

German politicians attacked Chancellor Angela Merkel accusing her of making Europe overly dependent on Turkey in the migrant crisis, the matter which left the bloc vulnerable to blackmail by President Tayyip Erdogan.

The EU is in a standoff with Turkey on the future of an agreement signed in March, said German media reports.

Under the deal, Turkey has committed to taking back all the asylum seekers and refugees, who had used the Aegean Sea to illegally reach Greece. 

Carsten Schneider, the deputy chairman of the Social Democrats (SPD), Merkel's junior coalition partner, accused the chancellor of making Erdogan central to her refugee policy.

He warned that if Erdogan stopped cooperating, “the extent of Germany's isolation in Europe will become clear again.”

While the numbers of migrants have dropped sharply this year, Merkel continues to attract criticism from her conservative allies in Bavaria as well as the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD).

"I'm not against talks with Turkey but I think it's dangerous to become so dependent on Ankara," said Horst Seehofer, leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).

Seehofer told Welt am Sonntag (WamS) that the deal with Turkey had helped boost support for AfD, which is currently polling at up to 15 percent.

Sahra Wagenknecht of the opposition far-left Linke party told the same newspaper Merkel had essentially negotiated the deal without involving her European partners.

"The chancellor is therefore responsible for Europe having become vulnerable to being blackmailed by the authoritarian Turkish regime and for Erdogan feeling noticeably strengthened to crush human rights underfoot," she said.

Cem Oezdemir, co-leader of the Greens party and the son of Turkish immigrants, also told WamS the deal had put Europe at risk of being blackmailed and said Merkel was largely to blame.

Source ; MENA