Brussels, 31/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - During a debate on 30 October in Berlin, on the question of whether Turkey would be a member of the EU by 2023, the centenary year of the Turkish Republic, the country's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that if this were not the case, the EU would lose Turkey. He explained that, “they probably won't string us along that long. But if they do string us along until then the European Union will lose out, and at the very least they will lose Turkey”. This is the first time that he has suggested how long Ankara is prepared to spend on the European accession process.
During the inauguration ceremony of the new Turkish Embassy in Germany, the German minister of foreign affairs, Guido Westerwelle, criticised the delay and said, “it is bad for both sides and next year, we want to make a new beginning to overcome this standstill”.
Turkey has been an EU candidate since 1999 and opened accession negotiations in 2005. The process ground to a halt due to the opposition of certain member states and the conflict with the republic of Cyprus over the division of the island. Turkey has frozen its relations with the Cypriot presidency of the EU. (CG/transl.fl)