PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet today French PM Jean-Pierre Raffarin and finance minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who first proposed holding a referendum on Turkey’s EU membership. In his tour, Erdogan will seek the support of French politicians, business circles, and public for Turkey’s EU bid. Meanwhile, foreign minister Abdullah Gul held a meeting with Angela Merkel, leader of the main opposition party CDU in Germany.
Apparently, Gul was not able to secure Merkel’s support, who favours the idea of privileged partnership for Turkey over full membership. In a related note, speaking after his meeting with Portuguese PM Pedro Santana Lopes, German chancellor Gerhard Schroder reiterated that at the EU summit in December, he would back the European Commission’s (EC) recommendation to start accession talks with Turkey. Lopes also lent his support to Ankara for opening of the talks. As known, in December taking into account the recommendation of the EC, the leaders of the EU will decide whether and when to start the accession talks with Turkey.