Germany and Turkey summoned each other's ambassadors on Friday in an escalating diplomatic row over Turkey's bid to join the European Union, dpa reported. Turkey summoned the German ambassador hours after Berlin called in Ankara's envoy to explain stinging comments made by a Turkish official about Chancellor Angela Merkel. Turkey's EU Affairs minister Egemen Bagis warned Merkel on Thursday not to block Turkey's progress toward membership in the European Union for political gain ahead of September's general elections. "If Ms Merkel is looking for domestic political material for her election, this material had better not be Turkey," Turkish media quoted Bagis as saying. "(Merkel) will see that those who meddle in the affairs of Turkey end up badly," he said. Bagis was reacting to reports that Germany was expressing reservations about restarting Turkey's stalled EU accession talks because of its recent crackdown on anti-government protesters. Merkel said earlier in the week that police had responded "much too harshly" against protesters. -- SPA 18:11 LOCAL TIME 15:11 GMT تغريد
