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Newspaper Yeni Söz, closely aligned to the government, made the outlandish claim on the front page of its daily newspaper. Carrying the provocative headline "Turkey can occupy Europe within 3 days”, the move is the latest in a political spat between Ankara and Berlin. Turkey has been vying to join the EU for more than a decade, with official negotiants to become a member dragging into their 12th year. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attempted to use the migrant crisis as a bargaining chip, striking a deal with Brussels over the crisis in exchange for political sweeteners, which included kick-starting their membership bid.

GETTY The barmy jingoism is not far off statements Mr Erdogan himself has made

But relations have turned sour with the EU, in particular Germany, and the two countries have been engaged in a public spat over the past few months. The paper’s absurd claims appear to be a no more than a childish dig at Berlin, as it is a feat unlikely to be achieved. Despite the outlandish statement, the paper attempts to back up its declaration by building their theory on a thesis of the American political scientist George Friedman, founder of the geopolitics institute Stratfor.

GETTY Relations have turned sour with the EU, in particular Germany

The paper said: "Friedman said the Turks could defeat Germany in one afternoon and France in one hour, if they have the courage to fight. “If you believe the international research institute Gallup, that asked people if they would fight for their country, then the Europeans have already taken out the white flags in the event of a war. "Germany is abandoned by its citizens. If we start in the morning, we can have our evening prayer in Bellevue Castle.”

A look back on the shocking Turkish military coup that left 294 dead Wed, July 27, 2016 The violent military coup to overthrow Turkey's President Erdogan has 'failed' leaving at least 104 dead and more than 1,500 wounded Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 42 A police officer talks with the soldiers involved in the coup attempt after they surrendered

The Turks could defeat Germany in one afternoon and France in one hour Yeni Söz

The paper references a two-year-old survey which reportedly gaged how likely citizens were to fight for their country. They pointed towards the results which said 18 per cent of Germans would fight for their country, compared to 29 per cent of the French and 27 per cent of the British.

GETTY The move is the latest in a political spat between Ankara and Berlin

The barmy jingoism is not far off statements Mr Erdogan himself has made. In April he described Europe as a "centre of national socialism”. That same month he called the EU “a continent that is rotting in every which way”.

GETTY In April Erdogan described Europe as a "centre of national socialism”.

And he also made reference to going to war with the EU, saying in another interview: "If you continue to behave like this, not a single European will be able to securely take a step on a road anywhere in the world by tomorrow.” The bitter row between Germany and Turkey has seen relations steadily deteriorate. Recently Berlin issued new travel warnings for tourists visiting the country, and foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said he could no longer guarantee investment in Turkey following accusations made by Mr Erdogan.