German Chancellor Angela Merkel told President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday of her "deep concern" over the state of democracy in Turkey and voiced doubt that a plan to offer Turks visa-free travel to the EU would be implemented on time, AFP reports.
Merkel's blunt comments after highly sensitive talks with Erdogan on the sidelines of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul revealed the extent of surging tensions between the EU and the Turkish strongman over human rights.
The German leader took aim at a law that critics believe is aimed at evicting pro-Kurdish lawmakers from parliament and stressed to Erdogan that a democracy needed "an independent judiciary, an independent press and a strong parliament".