This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/8592170.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
EU row sours Merkel's Turkey trip | EU row sours Merkel's Turkey trip |
(about 7 hours later) | |
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeated her belief that Turkey is not suitable for full EU membership, on the first day of an official Turkish visit. | |
Turkey should not view her offer of a "privileged partnership" - rather than full membership - negatively, she said. | |
Turkey, which began negotiations to become a member in 2005, has dismissed that offer as an insult. | |
There were also disagreements over Iran, Cyprus and educating Turkish children in Germany in Turkish. | |
Germany is Turkey's biggest trading partner, its biggest foreign investor, its biggest source of tourist revenue, and nearly three million Turks live in Germany. | |
But, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul, for two countries with such deep-rooted historical and economic ties, Germany and Turkey struggled to find a common voice during Mrs Merkel's visit. | |
'Shifting the goalposts' | |
On every important issue, Chancellor Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seemed to be at odds with each other, our correspondent adds. | |
Angela Merkel wants Turkey to have a privileged partnership with the EU | |
After months of avoiding the subject, Chancellor Merkel chose this moment to revive her idea of offering Turkey what she calls a privileged partnership with the EU, rather than full membership. | |
Mrs Merkel has stressed that she does see integration as possible in up to 28 of the 35 so-called chapters of EU law with which Turkey has to comply before it can become a full member of the union. | Mrs Merkel has stressed that she does see integration as possible in up to 28 of the 35 so-called chapters of EU law with which Turkey has to comply before it can become a full member of the union. |
Speaking at a joint press conference in Ankara, she said: "The rules of the game have changed" since 2005. | |
"The (accession) negotiations are an open-ended process. We should now pursue this open-ended process." | |
Mr Erdogan said nothing - but has in the past expressed his outrage over what he calls "shifting the goalposts". | |
The German proposal has been firmly rejected by the Turkish government as a breach of the terms agreed when membership negotiations began five years ago. | |
"Such a thing as privileged partnership does not exist," said Egemen Bagis, Turkey's minister for European affairs. | "Such a thing as privileged partnership does not exist," said Egemen Bagis, Turkey's minister for European affairs. |
"So we do not take that option seriously because there is no legal foundation of it. At times I feel insulted for being offered something which does not exist." | "So we do not take that option seriously because there is no legal foundation of it. At times I feel insulted for being offered something which does not exist." |
Manifold disagreement | |
Turkey's sometimes fraught relationship with the European Union will not be helped by this visit. | |
On Iran, Mrs Merkel wants Turkish support for international sanctions, which Mr Erdogan argues are counter-productive and hypocritical. | |
Turkey has recently strengthened its relations with Iran and opposes the tougher sanctions threatened by Western governments. | Turkey has recently strengthened its relations with Iran and opposes the tougher sanctions threatened by Western governments. |
"We are of the view that sanctions is not a healthy path and... that the best route is diplomacy," said Mr Erdogan at the joint news conference. | |
The two leaders also disagreed about Cyprus, with the German chancellor calling for the issue of Turkey's refusal to recognize the government on the divided island to be resolved quickly. |