Turkey's Erdogan criticizes German EU opposition (Roundup)

Feb 26, 2011, 14:45 GMT

Hanover, Germany - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday for opposing his country's EU membership aspirations, ahead of a visit to Germany.

'The expectation of the Turkish population is that Germany ... will take up a lead role in EU membership negotiations with Turkey,' Erdogan told daily Rheinische Post.

On Sunday, Erdogan is due to address ethnic Turks living in Germany. The premier caused outrage among Germany at a similar speech in Cologne three years ago, when he said immigrant families must integrate into Germany but retain their Turkish identities.

Police were preparing for protests in connection with Sunday's speech, in the city of Dusseldorf.

Erdogan charged that Merkel's proposals for Turkey to enter a 'privileged partnership' with the European Union - rather than full membership - were solely aimed at pleasing domestic voters.

The Turkish premier believed EU accession talks were 'being delayed for purely political reasons,' he told Rheinische Post.

Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder also said Merkel should actively encourage Turkish membership of the EU, in an interview with Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung.

'All this talk of offering Turkey a meaningless privileged partnership instead of EU membership must end,' Schroeder said.

Schroeder, of the opposition Social Democrats, said that Germany in particular had good reasons to back Ankara's EU membership ambitions, as it was Turkey's largest trading partner by far.

He criticized Merkel for allowing internal politics to determine her foreign policy objectives.

Schroeder, who was chancellor from 1998 to 2005, is to meet the Turkish premier early Monday.

Erdogan also said that Germany's attempt to integrate its Turkish population was one-sided and did not reflect the community's needs and expectations.

'To this day, German authorities dealing with integration issues do not consider the views of the appropriate authorities in Turkey,' Erdogan said.

He called upon Germany to 'seek cooperation with Turkish migrants, civil society groups and the Turkish government.'

On Monday, along with Merkel, Erdogan is to inaugurate the information technology fair CeBit in Hanover, where Turkey is this year's official partner country.

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