Is Turkish accession to EU unlikely until Erdogan goes

Germany’s European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told the Bild newspaper that Turkey would probably not join the European Union while Recep Tayyip Erdogan was president.

"Given the current conditions, accession is not realistic until well into the next decade. It will probably be an issue for the period after Erdogan," he said.

Turkey began talks about joining the European Union in 2005 but has made little progress. The prospect of the mainly Muslim country becoming an EU member worries many countries and relations have become more strained since a failed coup in July.