German MEP and head of the EP EPP group, Manfred Webber, claimed talks on Turkey’s EU accession should be halted in the medium term, until the political situation on the country settles down. In an interview to German newspaper ‘Die Welt’, Webber suggested that due to the developments in Turkey over the past days entry negotiations should be put on hold, adding pursuing  closer trading relations between Turkey and the EU was possible. ‘In the current acute stage our relationships with Turkey should be reorganised on a new basis’, he said. Despite the crackdown against dissenting voices by Erdogan in the post-coup period, Webber expressed his support for maintaing the refugee deal with Turkey. ‘The refugee agreement is working. Refugee trafficking in the Aegean has come to end. There is no reason to question the deal’, Webber stressed.