Merkel says Turkey's EU ties still open question
(PRAGUE) - The future of European Union's ties to Turkey remains an open question, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday after US President Barack Obama urged the bloc to let the mainly Muslim country join.
"I believe that a close link between the Muslim world and in particular with Turkey is interesting for us all," she said after Obama's first summit with EU leaders.
"In which manner and way that occurs, whether as a privileged partnership or a full (EU) member state, we're still talking about that," she told journalists.
Earlier Obama said that welcoming Turkey, long a key US ally, into the European Union would send an "important signal" to the Muslim world and "anchor Turkey firmly in Europe."
Turkey has been an official candidate to join the EU since 2005, but negotiations on joining have moved slowly in part over some members' doubts about whether the vast Muslim country has a place in the European bloc.
Although Berlin officially accepts the start of accession talks, senior members of Merkel's conservatives have expressed misgivings while other EU countries, such as France, are outright opposed to Turkey's full membership.
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