Turkey as an important partner to the EU and praised the constructive role it plays in the Middle East region. In March 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that democracy and freedom were "phrases" which had "absolutely no value" in Turkey, after calling for journalists, lawyers and politicians to be prosecuted as terrorists. In March 2017, in a speech given to supporters in the western Turkish city of Sakarya, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said "my dear brothers, a battle has started between the cross and the half moon" (referring to Christianity and Islam) after insulting European government politicians as "Nazis" in the weeks before. The same month, he threatened that Europeans would "not be able to walk safely on the streets" if they kept up banning Turkish ministers from addressing rallies in Europe. European politicians rejected Erdoğan's comments. In the context of the Turkish constitutional referendum in April 2017, the Vice President of the European Parliament, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, summarized the state of affairs as this: "In law Turkey is still a candidate, in fact, it is not. Nobody believes in Brussels or in Ankara for that matter that Turkey will eventually join the European Union. And that is why we say it is better to make a new start and put the relationship on a new foundation." In a TV debate in September 2017, then-German chancellor Angela Merkel and her then challenger Martin Schulz both said that they would seek an end to Turkey's membership talks with the European Union. See also Foreign relations of the European Union Foreign relations of Turkey European Union–Turkey relations Netherlands–Turkey relations France–Turkey relations Germany–Turkey relations Greece–Turkey relations Bulgaria–Turkey relations Austria–Turkey relations Turkey–United Kingdom relations Finland–Turkey relations Sweden–Turkey relations Cyprus dispute Islam in Europe Turks in Europe Anti-Turkish sentiment Enlargement of the European Union References External links Republic of Turkey Secretariat General for EU Affairs Myths and Facts about Enlargement, European Commission. Turkey: key documents, European Commission. Turkey's Chief Negotiator for the EU Egemen Bağış: "We Perceive Europe as a Union of Values" Euronews: Turkey slams EU The Telegraph: Boris Johnson says Britain will now help Turkey Turkey–European Union relations Turkey