(HANOVER) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated on Monday that she and her conservative party were opposed to Turkey being granted full membership of the European Union.

"We are committed to a privileged partnership for Turkey, but we are opposed to full membership for Turkey in the European Union," Merkel told a party conference of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in northern Germany.

Merkel said the term "privileged partnership" -- the CDU's standard position on Turkey's bid for membership of the EU -- had been enshrined in a new document setting out the party's political values.

"It was good that many of you made it clear that this phrase belongs in our new political programme," she told delegates.

Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, began membership talks with Brussels in 2005, but its accession bid suffered a serious blow last year when the EU froze membership talks in eight of the 35 policy areas that candidates must complete in response to Ankara's refusal to grant trade privileges to Cyprus.

Its bid for membership has conditional support from Germany's Social Democrats, the CDU's partners in the left-right coalition government.

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