25/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - Ankara denounced the new French president's objection to Turkey's EU membership the day after Nicolas Sarkozy had restated in Brussels that “Turkey does not have a place in the European Union” (EUROPE 9432). “Turkey's aim concerning the EU is clear. Turkey's status is also very clear: it is a country that has begun talks and the aim of these talks has been defined as nothing other than full membership of the EU”, said the spokesman for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey, telephoned the French president on Thursday, according to one of Mr Erdogan's collaborators. “We should not communicate with each other via the media. We should work together through direct dialogue”, Mr Erdogan said. (hb)