"Turkey lashes out at France and the Netherlands
By Lionel Barber, US Managing Editor, in New York
Published: September 16 2005 21:23 | Last updated: September 16 2005 21:23
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Friday blamed “weak governments” in France and the Netherlands for failing to tackle public opposition to Turkish membership of the EU.
He also singled out for criticism Angela Merkel, the Christian Democrat opposition leader who may become Germany’s first woman chancellor after next Sunday’s general election, for coming out against Turkey joining the EU.
“There are a few governments in the EU which have a negative attitude toward us,” Mr Erdogan told top business leaders, NGOs and academics meeting at the Clinton Global Initiative forum in New York. Blocking Turkey would mean the EU would remain a “Christian club”, he said."
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