Story highlights Angela Merkel describes Turkey's political path as "deeply problematic" for future relations

She slams comments by Turkey's President that drew a comparison with Nazi Germany

(CNN) German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Thursday that Turkey's approach to democracy and the rule of law are "deeply problematic" to the country's future cooperation with the European Union.

"These deep differences of opinion relate to basic questions of democracy and the rule of law. They relate to freedom of expression in Turkey. They also relate to the many journalists that have been jailed for expressing their opinion," Merkel said in an address to the German parliament, ahead of a European Council leaders' meeting later in the day.

In the speech, Merkel also reiterated her strong objections to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's weekend comment that Germany's Nazi past might not be entirely behind it.

"This is completely out of hand and why it's almost impossible to comment on this. It cannot be justified," she said.

"SS comparisons only lead to misery because it means the crimes committed by the National Socialists in Germany are rendered much more harmless than they actually were."

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