PanARMENIAN.Net
Turkish Prime Minister criticized Germany
16.04.2007 13:57 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
reproached Germany for failing to do more to advance his country’s
hopes of joining the European Union, in an interview to be published
on Monday. "Seriously, I expected more from Germany", which currently
holds the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, he told
German magazine Der Spiegel.
He was speaking ahead of a visit to Germany on Sunday, where he is due
to open the Hanover Industrial Fair alongside Chancellor Angela
Merkel. Erdogan also explicitly reproached Germany for his lack of
invitation to the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty
of Rome in Berlin three weeks ago.That was a "grave error," the
Turkish Prime Minister said, adding that it had "overshadowed the
German presidency.
"We would like a clear idea of a date, a roadmap, a calendar for
negotiations" to show the EU was serious about Turkey joining its
ranks, he told the magazine. He proposed 2014 or 2015 as a possible
date for membership. But if the EU "doesn’t want us, it should say so
clearly now," he said. "If we are not wanted, the two sides need not
continue wasting their time in talks."
Merkel is personally and politically, through her Christian Democratic
Union party, against Turkish membership of the EU. Instead she would
prefer to see the secular Islamic nation become a "privileged partner"
of the 27-member bloc. Public opinion in Germany, the EU’s most
populous country which has 2.5 million Turkish residents, is generally
against Turkish membership. However, German Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a social democrat, supports full membership.
"If we really trust Turkey, that will improve security and stability
in Europe," he told the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung regional
newspaper, DW reports.