Germany's conservatives, leading in voter surveys ahead of a September election, do not expect their opposition to Turkey's EU membership to harm German-US relations, a senior opposition leader said on Thursday.
Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) strongly oppose European Union membership for Turkey. Washington, however, has long lobbied its EU allies to grant the predominantly Muslim state and Nato member full membership of the bloc.
"This will not be a point of conflict," Wolfgang Schaeuble, Merkel's foreign policy adviser, told reporters.
Schaeuble said he discussed this issue with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a visit to Washington last month and that it was clear Berlin had its own views.