ANGELA MERKEL’S ANKARA VISIT TENSE AFTER CLAIMS OF HATRED TOWARDS TURKS TURKISH PRIME MINISTER ACCUSES GERMAN CHANCELLOR AFTER MERKEL REPEATS OPPOSITION TO TURKISH EU MEMBERSHIP
guardian.co.uk
Monday 29 March 2010 16.53
BST
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany today sought to defuse worsening
tensions with Turkey after Ankara accused her of harbouring hatred
towards Turks.
Halfway through a sensitive two-day trip to Ankara and Istanbul, Merkel
was confronted with boycotts and demands over Turkey’s European Union
ambitions, and the treatment of the three million Turks in Germany,
the country’s biggest ethnic minority, as well as tension over Iran
and Armenia.
On the eve of her visit Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the combative Turkish
prime minister, charged Merkel with "hatred" for Turks. The chancellor
also earned criticism at home for raising her Christian Democratic
party’s hostility to Turkey’s EU membership to the level of government
policy.
Erdogan reinforced his reputation for diplomatic bluntness by repeating
critical remarks about Germany and about Merkel herself.
Two years ago in a sports stadium in Cologne, Erdogan caused outrage
in Germany by dubbing alleged policies of assimilation of the Turkish
minority as a "crime against humanity".
At the weekend he upped the ante by calling for the establishment of
special Turkish high schools in Germany and the abolition of a German
ban on dual citizenship so that Turks in Germany could acquire German
passports while keeping their Turkish ID papers.
Merkel promptly dismissed the demand. "What we want is people who live
among us over several generations to integrate into this country,"
she said. "That obviously involves learning the German language and
obeying German laws."
Erdogan responded robustly. "Why this hatred against Turkey?" he
asked. "I would not have expected that from Chancellor Merkel. Is
Turkey a whipping boy?"
Deniz Baykal, leader of the main opposition party in Turkey, said he
would boycott a planned meeting with the German leader.
Cem Ozdemir, the German Greens leader who is of Turkish origin, warned
of a "dramatic deterioration" in relations between Berlin and Ankara
as Merkel went to Turkey for the second time since becoming chancellor.
She raised Turkish hackles by opting to reiterate her longstanding
opposition to Turkish membership of the EU although Ankara has been
in negotiations to join the EU for five years.
She told a Turkish newspaper that Ankara should instead be granted a
"privileged partnership" with the EU, a unique status that has not
been conferred on any other country that has negotiated its way to
membership. She added that Turkey could apply some 80% of EU law.
"Such a thing as privileged partnership does not exist, so we do
not take that option seriously," said Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s Europe
minister. "At times I feel insulted for being offered something which
does not exist."
Large parts of the membership negotiations are blocked because of
Turkey’s involvement in the Cyprus dispute and its refusal to open
its ports to Greek Cypriot goods.
The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is also strongly opposed to
Turkey’s EU membership.
Merkel’s junior coalition partner, the liberal Free Democrats, is
in favour of Turkey joining the EU and she was accused of wrongly
turning her party policy into government policy.
Germany and Turkey have an intimate if troubled relationship because of
the large numbers of Turks in Germany and the thriving trade between
the regional giant and Europe’s biggest economy.
The arguments between Berlin and Ankara are taking place against a
background of growing assertiveness as Turkey builds itself into a
formidable regional power straddling Europe, the Middle East, and
central Asia, while Europe’s self-confidence is on the decline.