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Majority of Germans opposed to Turkey EU entry: poll

24 February 2013, 23:43 CET
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(BERLIN) - Six out of 10 Germans are opposed to Turkey joining the European Union, a survey published on Sunday showed, as Chancellor Angela Merkel embarked on a two-day visit to the country.

Sixty percent of those surveyed in the Emnid poll for the Bild am Sonntag weekly said they were against Ankara gaining membership of the EU bloc. Thirty percent said they were in favour, the rest undecided.

In addition, 57 percent said Turkey's growing economic and military strength was a matter of concern for them, with 35 percent welcoming Ankara's increasing clout.

Merkel was due to set off later Sunday on a trip to Turkey that will include a visit to German troops on the Syrian border, a speech at a Turkish-German business conference, as well as high-level political talks.

On Monday, she will meet both President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ahead on the trip, she said in her weekly podcast she was in favour of opening a "new chapter" in Turkey's bid to join the EU, adding that discussions needed to move forward although she remained sceptical.

"These negotiations have stalled a little recently and I am in favour of opening a new chapter in these talks so we can advance," Merkel said, stressing that "a long path of negotiations lies ahead of us".

"Although I am sceptical, I have approved the continuation of the membership discussions," added the chancellor.

Turkey's efforts to join the EU have stalled in recent years and of the 35 so-called policy chapters EU candidates must negotiate, Turkey has opened talks on only 13 since formally applying for membership in 2005.


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opinion

Posted by Stoyan Antonov at 24 February 2013, 23:58 CET
i think more than 60% of Germans oppose turkish entry, in Austria it is more than 70 percent against, and take in mind the high number of turkish and muslim migrants;
here i want to say that in the end of February 1888 Russian army approached Constantinople in less than 20 kilometers - the Old City was going to be Christian again, however the british empire sent a military fleet in the straits with the order to shoot at Russians if they had taken Constantinople. Unfortunately similar thing happened in 1912 - when Bulgarians were only 6 kilometers from Constantinople - so called "Romanians" and greeks and serbs invaded us and saved the turkish empire; turks used that to slaughter some 300 000 Bulgarians in South-East Thrace, and other of our neighbours cut Bulgarian territory