ANALYSIS: Merkel's Turkey visit dominated by EU entry dispute

Berlin - Conservative Germans were outraged last week when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded Turkish-language schools be set up in Germany - but that issue is minor compared to the main disagreement between the two nations.

Turkey wants to join the European Union as a full member and Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to keep it out. When she visits Ankara and Istanbul on Monday and Tuesday, nobody will be able to put that profound disagreement out of their minds.

Erdogan's point about schools was more of a teasing nature, and is not expected to play much of a role in the policy talks.

Merkel and her Christian Democrats have argued for years that a largely Islamic state with a distinct culture and history has no place in the EU, a club that Germany co-founded.

Whereas Turkey, which has been in NATO for half a century, sees its future in integration with western Europe, Merkel wants to preserve the EU's "special character," as her aides express it.

Berlin opposes entry by nations that do not share that character, but is willing to offer Turkey something less, a closer relationship described as a "privileged partnership," without voting rights.

Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc and its junior coalition party, the Free Democrats, signed a policy accord last year when they formed a new government, which sets it out this way: "The negotiations directed at accession and begun in 2005 are to be an open-ended process.

"If the EU is not able to let it in, or Turkey is not capable of fully meeting all the undertakings involved in membership, then it should be bound into European structures as closely as possible in a way that further develops its privileged relationship with the EU."

This week's visit to Turkey will be Merkel's second as chancellor.

Since her October 2006 visit, EU accession talks have proceeded at a snail's pace.

On one of the central sticking points, Cyprus, there has been no change from Berlin's point of view.

Ankara was warned in 2006 that the talks would stall if Turkey did not opens its ports and airports to visits by Cyprus-registered ships and planes by the end of the year. Ankara never did.

The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974 into a Turkish Cypriot section in the north and a Greek Cypriot section in the south. The two sides have been in talks since 2008 on reunification, but not for the first time.

The Republic of Cyprus, led by Greek Cypriots, has been an EU member since 2004. The republic of northern Cyprus, led by Turkish Cypriots, is only recognized by Turkey. Greek Cypriots are determined to block Turkey's EU entry till the day the island's division ends.

Thus, Merkel has made very clear that vessels from any and every EU nation must have rights of access to the ports of a future "partner."

Erdogan by contrast is not willing to make do with something less than EU membership. He insists that reforms to bring Turkey's governance to EU standards are proceeding steadily.

When the ships issue came to a head, EU leaders called a halt to accession negotiations on eight of the 35 chapters, or topic groups.

So far only 12 chapters are under way, and only one has been brought to a conclusion.

"That leaves a huge amount still to be done," point out officials in Berlin.

Accession talks and reforms to qualify for EU entry generally take several years, whatever country is involved, so the current government in Berlin sees little likelihood that it will have to make any yes-no choice over Turkish entry, which the FDP views with greater sympathy.

The next German general election is scheduled for September 2013.

"It's not a decision for now, or for the next three and a half years," said one person close to the government who asked not to be quoted by name.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/316170,analysis-merkels-turkey-visit-dominated-by-eu-entry-dispute.html.