GERMANY: Chancellor Angela Merkel told visiting Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan that that negotiations for Turkish entry to EU would take time.

Record ID: 217845

  • Title: GERMANY: Chancellor Angela Merkel told visiting Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan that that negotiations for Turkish entry to EU would take time.
  • Date: 16th April 2007
  • Summary: (W4) HANOVER, GERMANY (APRIL 15, 2007) (REUTERS) GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL AND TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN ARRIVING FOR JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKING PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (German) ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR SAYING: "It has always been said that the overall process will be a long one and the outcome is open. We are working on this long p
  • Embargoed: 1st May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAC1JYNUVNWAA4CXVGAWHFNFW4D
  • Story Text: Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday (April 15) that negotiations for Turkish entry to the European Union would take a long time and signalled that it was impossible to proceed any faster.
    "It has always been said that the overall process will be a long one and the outcome is open," Merkel told reporters at a joint news conference with the Turkish premier Tayyip Erdogan.
    Erdogan's visit to Germany, currently president of the bloc, follows weeks of criticism from Turkey and anger that representatives from Ankara were not invited to recent EU anniversary celebrations in Berlin.
    Erdogan told a German magazine shortly before his two-day visit that Germany could have done more to push on with Turkey's EU membership talks in the first six months of this year.
    "I seriously expected more from Germany," Erdogan was quoted as telling Der Spiegel news magazine. He called for a clear timetable for Turkish membership and said that "2014 or 2015" would be a realistic and possible date.
    Merkel stressed on Sunday that one chapter had been closed in the 35 policy areas due to be discussed. A second had been opened and a further two could possibly be opened by the end of the German presidency in June, Merkel said.
    The two leaders opened a trade fair in the northern German city of Hannover later on Sunday. Turkey was Germany's 16th most important export partner in 2006, soaking up around 14 billion euros worth of German exports.
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