"We want the process to advance, despite the fact that I am still skeptical about Turkey's full membership of the EU," Merkel said following talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. She stressed that proceeding with the accession talks would depend on Ankara's Cyprus policy, and urged Turkey to open its ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus.
Turkey began EU accession negotiations in 2005, but has made little progress since then partly because of opposition from former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as the Cyprus problem.
While current French President Francois Hollande recently signaled a policy change and Merkel promised support for Turkey's EU process, Cyprus remains the major stumbling block.
Merkel and Erdogan held long talks in Ankara.
Prime Minister Erdogan gently turned down Merkel's demand on Monday, stressing that the Greek-led Republic of Cyprus does not represent the whole island - rather it is one of the two political entities in the divided country. Earlier, Merkel also called on Turkey to extend its customs union with the EU to Cyprus, saying that this would be “neither a bad nor a difficult thing” for Turkey, but would help clear the path to the EU.
Turkey does not officially recognize the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member, and says it will only extend the customs union to the island following a comprehensive settlement there.
Read more: Merkel's difficult dialogue with Erdogan | Europe | DW.DE | 25.02.2013
Turkey does not officially recognize the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member, and says it will only extend the customs union to the island following a comprehensive settlement there.
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