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25 Feb, 2013 06:57

Germany green lights Turkey to EU talks ‘hoping for Turkish votes’

Germany green lights Turkey to EU talks ‘hoping for Turkish votes’

Germany has vowed to renew stalled talks on Turkey joining the EU. Some say this comes as Merkel`s “party is hoping for Turkish votes.”

“In recent times, negotiations have stalled somewhat and I am in favor of opening a new chapter in order to move forward,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Turkey for an official visit.

Meanwhile, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the delay in talks 'unforgivable.'

Previously Merkel`s conservative Christian Democratic Union spoke against full Turkish membership, favoring ‘privileged partnership’ status for the country.

One reason for the possible change in the party course is fishing for future votes, Manuel Ochsenreiter, political analyst and journalist, told RT.

Given that there are 3 million Turkish people in Germany, now “when we see that Angela Merkel`s party is now slowly becoming weaker… we can see that there are certain politicians from this party hoping for the Turkish votes in future.”

However, Ochsenreiter warns, Turkey should think twice before joining the EU and sacrificing its sovereignty.

According to the journalist, the European Union is by no means a democratic project, but an ideological project, brought together by the European Commission and European politicians.

“Ask the people [in Germany] if they want to send troops to Syrian border. They will say ‘no’. Ask if they want to send troops to Afghanistan, they will say ‘no’. Ask them if they want to bail out countries like Greece and Italy… they will say ‘no’. The European Union is a construction without any democratic base,” he explained.

He said we are only left to hope that Turkey demonstrates more democratic organization and puts the issue of full EU membership to a national referendum.

Meanwhile, a recent survey revealed that almost two-thirds of Turkish people are against their country joining the union.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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