TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP

Germany’s new government will not slam the door on Turkey’s EU membership bid, according to sources close to the coalition talks. However, Turkey is still a long way from meeting the EU’s criteria for entry. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats and the pro-business Free Democrats agreed “unanimously” to stick with the last government’s position on Turkey’s EU membership bid. The previous coalition of the Christian Democrats with the centre-left Social Democrats had called the negotiations an “open-ended process” with no guarantee of membership. The leader of the Free Democrats, Guido Westerwelle is open to membership, but says Turkey first needs to resolve its ongoing dispute with EU-member Cyprus and improve rights for the country’s Kurds. Whether or not to allow Turkey accession into the EU has been a contentious issue in Germany – and across Europe – since official talks were opened in 2005. Even those hopeful that Turkey will eventually gain entry acknowledge that it could take decades.