Brussels, 03/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - Speaking during an interview published on Thursday 3 November in the German daily Bild, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was being treated “unfairly” by the European Union with regard to its accession application. “Turkey is being treated unfairly. Since I became prime minister, the EU has admitted 12 countries, even the Greek part of Cyprus”, he bemoaned. Peter Stano, Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle's spokesman, said on the subject of Turkey's accession that the country is moving forward according to its merit. This, he said, is set out in the European Commission's last follow-up report on Turkey in an objective, just and factual assessment of things to be done and progress to be made.
Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan also questioned the attitude of Paris and Berlin, saying: “Since Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have been in power, we are not even invited to EU summits”. The previous day, on Wednesday 2 November, in the same newspaper, Erdogan had reproached Germany for not firmly supporting Turkey's bid to join the bloc. “German politicians should do far more for Turkey's membership of the European Union, as this would take integration forward greatly”, he stressed. He went on to add that they do not sufficiently acknowledge the close involvement of the three million Turks living in Germany, of whom 700,000 have German citizenship. “Naturally”, he went on, “I would like all three million to have dual nationality”. The question of dual nationality is a bone of contention between the two countries, as is the obligation to learn German to achieve family reunification, and of which Erdogan is highly critical. “When a young Turk (living in Germany) falls in love with a Turkish girl and wants to marry her, it is a fault on the part of the German government to demand that she learn German beforehand”, he said. The prime minister went on to state during a press meeting on Wednesday with the chancellor to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the pact allowing hundreds of thousands of Turkish workers to emigrate to Germany that “assimilation is a crime against humanity”. Relations between Angela Merkel and the Turkish prime minister are strained due to the chancellor's reluctance to allow Turkey to join the EU. (CG/transl.jl)