PanARMENIAN.Net reports Turkey's PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at the leaders of Germany and France for opposing Turkey's accession to the European Union, saying the rules of the game cannot be changed halfway through.“I have spoken a lot with both Mr. Sarkozy and Mrs. Merkel. We should first of all know that nobody is permanent in these offices. Everybody comes and goes. I spoke about these issues with former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as well, but I never heard such things from him and, on the contrary, Schroeder had always stated his positive thoughts, without mentioning such things as ‘privileged partnership.' He said, ‘Membership is a right for Turkey, as for everybody.' He said, ‘Turkey will become a member of the EU when the chapters are done.' That's how it needs to be,” Today's Zaman cited Erdogan as saying.
The leaders of Germany and France denounced the idea of expanding the European Union indefinitely to include new members such as Turkey. Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has advocated having a vaguely defined partnership with the largely Muslim Turkey, said, “We cannot take in everyone in Europe as a full member.”
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a longtime opponent of Turkish membership, advocated discussing a common economic and security forum with Turkey as an alternative.
“When Angela Merkel says Europe must have borders, she is right - because a Europe without borders would be a Europe without a will, without identity, without values,” he said.
