ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday
that tension with Europe was due to European domestic politics and relations
with Berlin
would improve after Germany's parliamentary election in September.
Relations between Europe and Turkey, a NATO member and a candidate for
European Union membership, have been strained by the crackdown that followed
last year's failed coup, with some European countries voicing alarm at the
scale of the purges.
"Criticism from Europe is about their internal politics,"
Erdogan said in a speech in the western city of Isparta that was broadcast live
on television.
"France and Austria did this before, we see that Germany follows the
same strategy. I believe that this situation will improve after
elections," he said, referring to the Sept. 24 polls where Chancellor
Angela Merkel is running for a fourth term.
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