Erdogan and Merkel: Almost Auf Wiedersehen
Last week brought some seemingly good news for Turkey’s long moribund effort to join the European Union. At a joint press conference in Berlin with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that “The EU is an honest negotiating partner” and that Brussels would pursue Turkey’s membership in “good faith.” In a way, there was reason for Turks to celebrate Merkel’s forward leaning statements. Both she and former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, have been the most vocal and public proponents of what they call a “privileged partnership” for Turkey in lieu of full EU membership, which is a nice way of saying the status quo. Merkel’s willingness to energize the accession process is no doubt more apparent than real, however. European opposition to Turkey’s membership in one of the world’s most exclusive clubs is pretty wide and deep even among European leaders who give lip service to the notion.
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