German conservatives abandon anti-Turkey petition plan

The German conservative opposition Christian
Democrats have faced a barrage of criticism in recent
days over their call for a petition to be drawn up against Turkey’s
EU membership. The party is now abandoning the
idea. 

The German CDU has given up its plan to organise
a petition against Turkey’s EU membership, arguing that the
initiative could be “misunderstood” and “abused”. The decision to
this effect was confirmed as “final” by Volker Kauder, the party’s
parliamentary leader, on 15 October. 

The idea of organising a petition in Germany
originated with CDU leader Angela Merkel. Merkel, a long-time
advocate of a “privileged partnership” status for Turkey, recently
announced her support for the creation of a petition against
Turkey’s full membership of the EU. She said that the CDU was
considering taking the party’s rejection of Turkey’s EU membership
prospect to the streets by way of a petition. In September, Merkel
even attempted to create a united front against the Turkish bid by
sending a letter to several key European leaders, including prime
ministers Jean-Pierre Raffarin of France, Silvio Berlusconi of
Italy and Jan-Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands. While Merkel
recognised Turkey’s recent reforms, she argued that upon its
accession Turkey would place too much economic and cultural
pressure on the Union. 

“I received many replies, many letters about
this”, Merkel was quoted by Süddeutsche Zeitung as saying on 15
October. “The concern was often expressed that the petition against
Turkish EU accession could be abused.”   

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