The Wall Street Journal reports,"It is no secret that I'm skeptical about full membership," Ms. Merkel said after meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Berlin. "There's no deadline for talks," she added.
The chancellor and other German conservatives have long opposed EU membership for Turkey, a mostly Muslim country of 74 million, mainly because of its size—it would be second in population only to Germany—and doubts about its democratic credentials.
Polls show a large majority of German voters also reject Turkish membership and support for it has also waned in other parties.
At the news conference, Ms. Merkel praised Turkey's contribution to dealing with the refugee crisis stemming from neighboring Syria.
Earlier, he gave a speech at the German Council on Foreign Relations highlighting the importance of granting Turkey EU membership. Events such as the Arab Spring and the crises in Egypt and Syria "showed us that Turkey doesn't need the EU, but the EU needs Turkey," he said.
"We expect and hope that we get support on our of EU accession from Germany.
