Angela Merkel and Martin Schulz are using Turkey and Erdogan to hide problems of Europe from their citizens, spokesperson for the Turkish president Ibrahim Kalin tweeted.

Turkey’s criticism came in response to the statements of German politicians that the EU should break off negotiations over future Turkish membership. Both Angela Merkel and Martin Schulz agreed that Turkey could no longer become a member of the European Union.

“It is not a coincidence that our president, Erdoğan, was a main topic of the debate,” Kalın tweeted, criticising German politicians’ “indulgence in populism”, the Guardian reported.