ANKARA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel's reluctance to launch talks with Ankara on expanding the European Union's customs union with Turkey has shaken already strained ties between two NATO allies.
As Ankara and Berlin remain split on many subjects, Germany is leaning on the Turkish government setting forth its cards over EU affairs of the candidate country.
"We are not opening new chapters in Turkey's [EU] accession bid and we have lowered membership preparation aid to a minimum. Also, for the time being, the customs union deal with Turkey will not be changed or updated," Merkel said on Aug. 16 when asked about ties with Turkey during a live interview on YouTube.
Turkey's EU minister Omer Celik on Thursday identified Merkel's recent statement as "unfortunate" and "an outcome of rising tensions between the two countries."
Bilateral problems between Turkey and Germany should not cast a shadow on European Union affairs, he said, urging the EU institutions not to "allow Germany to turn this into an EU matter."
"It is not right for an EU-member country to behave like instructing EU institutions," the presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told reporters on the same day.
"The customs union agreement is built upon a win-win principle. Here we talk about a relationship which is based on the benefit of both Turkey and European countries. When it is precluded, postponed or canceled, not just Turkey, all European countries will get harm," he stated.
The Customs Union agreement between Turkey and the EU entered into force in 1995 and covers all industrial goods but does not include agriculture, services or public procurement.
The European Commission announced in December that it had asked the European Council for a mandate to launch talks with Turkey to upgrade the existing EU-Turkey Customs Union.
EU officials earlier informed Ankara that the European Council may launch negotiations on the Customs Union in fall, after the German elections, but there is no new notification yet, a Turkish official who asked to remain anonymous told Xinhua.
Merkel's remarks came one day after German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel suggested that his government's economic pressure on Turkey "is working."
In July, the German government said it might cut off export insurance guarantees and other forms of economic cooperation in Turkey and warned its citizens for traveling to the country over the arrest of German human rights activists.
Merkel said the warnings issued by her government "had gotten Turkey thinking, but these are not enough."
As a sign of detente, Turkey last week has given permission for a group of German lawmakers to visit their troops at a NATO airbase in Konya province in September following the postponement of an earlier visit.
At the beginning of July, Germany began withdrawing its forces from Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, after Ankara refused German parliament members from visiting them.
Germany is critical for the Turkish government's post-coup crackdown, in which 50,000 people have been detained and over 150,000 sacked or suspended from the judiciary, journalism, academia and other public services.
Several dozens of military personnel and diplomats applied for asylum in Germany, while Turkey demanded, in vain, for their extradition after July 15 coup attempt last year.
At the weekend, Turkey issued a diplomatic note to German Foreign Ministry for probe and extradition of Adil Oksuz, a theology lecturer suspected of playing a major role in the failed coup.
Turkish media reports suggested that Oksuz was seen in Frankfurt and Ulm and given a temporary residence permit by Germany's Baden-Wurttemberg state, but there has been no official confirmation from Turkish authorities if they have communicated reliable intelligence information.
"None of our allies can harbor a killer. Even the possibility of someone with a clear tie to the coup attempt being harbored by our ally is saddening," EU Minister Celik said on Thursday.
