Turkish Press
May 29 2005
Press Review
AKSAM
GERMAN OPPOSITION LEADER PRODS TURKEY OVER CYPRUS, ARMENIA ISSUES
Germany’s main opposition leader Angela Merkel yesterday urged Turkey
to improve its relations with Armenia and clarify its official
attitude on the Cyprus issue before starting accession talks with the
European Union on Oct. 3. Although Turkey’s EU membership bid is
supported by current German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his
party, Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), however,
favors a looser “privileged partnership’ with Ankara. The CDU is the
main sponsor of a draft resolution before the German Parliament
calling on Turkey to take historical responsibility for the so-called
mass killings of Armenians during the late Ottoman era. Merkel’s
party will challenge Schroeder’s Social Democrats in early polls this
September. /Aksam/