GERMANY: Outgoing German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder meets with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Cologne

Record ID: 217716

  • Title: GERMANY: Outgoing German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder meets with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Cologne
  • Date: 7th November 2005
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN SAYING: "I hope that the political leadership in Germany will support Turkey on its way into the European Union, as my friend here has always promised and affirmed. The German government has always done this and I am convinced that the new government will continue on this path."
  • Embargoed: 22nd November 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: International Relations,European Union
  • Reuters ID: LVA65GEC82RWP3JIDV3C846J7NGD
  • Story Text: Outgoing German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder met with the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan in Cologne for the opening of the new European Headquarters of the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) on Sunday (November 6). On the agenda was the Turkey's membership negotiations with the EU. The designated German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, of the conservative Christian Democratic Party has continuously opposed full EU membership for Ankara, preferring a "privileged partnership", and made this a campaign issue in the run-up to the September 18 general election. But Chancellor Schroeder, who made an issue of his particular support of the EU negotiations with Turkey, expressed his hope that the new coalition government would continue this. "I am sure that the new German government will also continue on this path on the basis of the decisions which have already been made, and which have to be respected by all parties," he said. "Once again, contracts are to be observed, and no-one can withhold themselves from this basic principle," he said. Prime Minister Erdogan expressed hope support would remain. "I hope that the political leadership in Germany will support Turkey on its way into the European Union, as my friend here has always promised and affirmed," said Erdogan. "The German government has always done this and I am convinced that the new government will continue on this path," he added. The Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) was created in 2004 by various representatives from businesses and public bodies as an independent organisation outside political institutions, with a total of 50 founding members.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register