Turkey's European Union Minister and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozkır harshly criticized the head of the EU's delegation to Turkey, Hansjörg Haber, on his official Twitter account on Saturday for his remarks, which, according to him, belittled the Turkish people.
Bozkır criticized Haber after he said, "Starting like a Turk, finishing like a German," and said Haber has to clarify what exactly he meant. "No diplomat, especially an ambassador, can address the president of a country where he serves in such a manner. An ambassador has no such right to belittle the country where he is assigned and its people or direct such words at the president," Bozkır said.
Stressing that Turkey and the EU are going through a rough time that cannot afford such reckless statements, Bozkır said he expects the delegation head to clarify the situation or do "what is necessary."
Haber had cited the saying in a press conference with a group of journalists. Touching on the 72 benchmarks Turkey has to fulfill for visa liberalization, Haber said the benchmarks were clear since 2013. "We have a proverb, 'starting like a Turk, finishing like a German.' The opposite happened here," he said.