Turkey's EU bid causes friction in Germany

The German foreign minister’s warm stance toward Turkey’s European Union membership bid has caused friction within the coalition government, with a junior conservative party saying it was strongly against Turkey's full membership in the bloc.

The declaration of the Christian Social Union, or CSU, came a few days after German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle made a speech to Turkish diplomats in Ankara during his recent visit, promising that the German government would consider Turkey's application for EU membership "without prejudice."

"What the EU and Turkey have agreed stands. And that applies to this German government too," Westerwelle said last week. He also called Turkey's negotiations "open-ended."

However, CSU has remained locked in a bitter row with government coalition partners the Free Democratic Party, or FDP, after the Bavarian conservatives rejected Westerwelle's overtures to Turkey.

With firm support from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel does not back full EU membership for Turkey. The two leaders have spoken of Turkey getting a "privileged partnership" with the EU – less than full membership.

Within the ruling German coalition, Westerwelle's liberal Free Democrats are seen as more open to Ankara's ambitions than Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats and their junior ally in Bavaria.

Speaking at a party conference in the Bavarian town of Wildbad Kreuth, leading CSU member Hans-Peter Friedrich said his party was strongly against Turkey's full membership in the EU but was ready to offer a "privileged partnership" deal to the country. "That is our opinion, which we're entitled to," Germany’s Deutsche Welle quoted Friedrich as saying. "If Mr. Westerwelle has a different one, then he's entitled to that, too."

/Hurriyet Daily News/