"EU shouldn't shun Turkey
The new French president doesn't want Turkey in the European Union. But keeping its admission a possibility would help spur reforms.
May 8, 2007
TURKEY AND THE European Union were a long way from finalizing their wedding plans, but on Sunday, Europe may have thrown back the ring. That's bad news for both, and it's a blow to their anxious matchmakers in Washington.
Sunday's election of Nicolas Sarkozy as president of France may mean that Turkey's EU accession talks are over for the moment. Sarkozy is a fierce opponent of Ankara's membership and now forms a powerful anti-Turkey bloc with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Also on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul withdrew his candidacy for president amid a political crisis that raises questions about the stability of Turkey's democracy, giving further ammunition to European anti-integrationists."
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