Speaking during a two-day visit to Turkey, Merkel, who favours a “privileged partnership” for Turkey in place of full membership, said it would be right to open a new chapter in Ankara’s negotiations with Brussels.

But she said failure to agree on the Ankara Protocol, which would extend Turkey’s customs agreement with the EU by opening its ports to goods from Cyprus, was hindering Turkey’s membership ambitions. “I said today that we should open a new chapter in the negotiations,” Merkel told a news conference in Ankara.

“I must say however, that so long as the question of the Ankara protocol, which hangs closely together with Cyprus, is not solved, we will have problems in opening as many chapters as would be perhaps good and proper,” she said.

“We can sign the Ankara Protocol only if the visa dialogue process with the EU is signed at the same time,” Erdogan said at a joint press conference, underlining a long-standing demand that Turkish citizens be allowed visa-free travel in Europe.