Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a ceremony marking the 95th anniversary of Victory Day at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Ankara, Turkey August 30, 2017. (Reuters Photo)

ANKARA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Monday accused Germany of indulging in populism after it said to seek an end to Ankara's EU membership talks, Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin tweeted.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused German politicians of indulging in populism after Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would seek an end to Ankara's European Union membership talks, but added that he hoped strained relations would improve.

"We hope that the problematic atmosphere that made Turkish-German relations the victim of this narrow political horizon will end," Erdogan's spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, tweeted.

Merkel made her comments, which signalled an apparent change in her stance on Turkey's EU accession bid, during a televised debate on Sunday ahead of Germany's Sept. 24 national election.