German Chancellor Angela Merkel hinted Saturday her country’s backing to Turkey in the prolonged accession talks with the European Union.
The chancellor promised that Germany would offer help wherever it could.
However, she reaffirmed her position that the process had “an open end.” Merkel had previously stated her opposition to granting Turkey a full EU membership, preferring a special status for the Muslim nation.
She made the remarks in a joint press conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after their talks here.
During his visit Erdogan plans to attend the events marking the 50th anniversary of a guest worker pact between the two countries.
The talks with Erdogan dealt with a range of issues among which are Turkey’s EU bid, the issue of the integration problems of Germany’s Muslim minority and Cyprus, she said.
An estimated 2.5 million Muslim minority of Turkish origin live in Germany and their integration into the German society came to the fore in the recent weeks.
Germany should use 50th anniversary to review the ongoing problems of integrating immigrant groups, Merkel told reporters.
“Everywhere in cities and towns where there are people of Turkish origin, we should use this event as a way of taking look into the problem and seeing what should be done,” Merkel told reporters.
As for issue of Cyprus, she said the situation was important “for us all,” primarily in issues of security cooperation between NATO allies and the EU members.
Merkel indicated that she planned for visiting the divided island in January, urging both the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots to adopt a reasonable approach to end the division of the island country which has been in place since 1974.
On his part, the Turkish leader said the progress of Turkey’s joining the EU “should not slow down.” Regarding the Muslims integration, he said: “This (the 50th anniversary of the pact) will be an opportunity for me to see if Germany can play a helpful role in resolving the problems.”
Under the pact, signed by West Germany and Turkey in 1961, the former allowed in large numbers of Turkish immigrants to provide workforce for its postwar economic miracle.
KUNA
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