German chancellor Merkel: Accession negotiations with Turkey open-ended.

By bne IntelliNews March 30, 2010
Speaking after a meeting with PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara yesterday (Mar 29), German chancellor Angela Merkel said that the accession negotiations between Turkey and the EU were open-ended and this open-ended process should continue. The German chancellor also called on the Turkish government to implement the protocol which requires Turkey to open its ports to Greek Cypriot traffic. Merkel has long advocated the idea of offering Turkey a privileged partnership status instead of full membership. On a related note, Erdogan and Merkel appeared to overcome some differences over the Turkish PMs proposal for opening Turkish schools in Germany . Prior to her visit to Ankara , Merkel rejected the idea. However, after the meeting with Erdogan, Merkel said that they agreed to have a common stance on the issue but added that for a better integration to German society Turks living in Germany should learn the local language and this was not assimilation.

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