TURKISH PM REBUKES MERKEL FOR REJECTING HIGH SCHOOL OFFER

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel prepared to visit Turkey on Monday, long-standing differences between the two countries have come to the fore, most recently with a debate over Turkish-language education in Germany.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reproached Merkel on Saturday for rejecting his suggestion that Turkish high schools be opened in the European country.

“Is Turkey a scapegoat? I don’t understand this hatred,” Erdoğan told reporters in advance of the German chancellor’s arrival for a two-day visit. Merkel made her first official trip to Turkey in 2006.

The European leader has rejected the idea of opening Turkish high schools in Germany and recently reiterated her intention to pursue a “privileged partnership” with Turkey as an alternative to its full membership in the EU.

“I think it is an improper approach for a German chancellor [to not] accept opening Turkish high schools,” Erdoğan said. “I will share my opinion when she comes here.”

Noting that a number of high schools in Turkey provide education in the German language, the prime minister added: “We are not worried [about them]. [German officials] demanded to establish a university and so we provided 120,000 square meters of land.”

Rebuffing Erdoğan’s suggestion, Merkel said language is a vital part of integration policy. “These Turks have been living in Germany for three or four generations. We want those people to integrate in this country. That’s integration in both work and family life,” she said in a statement issued before her visit to Turkey. “Of course, it means learning German and respecting German law.”

Privileged partnership

Turkish State Minister Egemen Bağış snubbed Merkel’s proposal of a “privileged partnership” with the EU on Saturday, saying such a status was non-existent in the bloc it is trying to join, Agence France-Presse reported.

“The privileged partnership just does not exist,” said Bağış, who is Turkey’s chief negotiator for EU talks. “This does not have any legal basis in the European Union.”

Bağış told an Anatolia news agency correspondent that Turkey and Germany could debate the idea of a privileged partnership only within the context of the countries’ bilateral relations. “We are carrying out our EU membership bid by lifting all privileges and double standards,” he said.

In remarks published in Turkish newspapers Wednesday, Merkel said she would use the visit to insist on a “privileged partnership” for Turkey instead of EU membership. “There are intertwined relations between Turkey and the EU. There are 35 chapters in the [membership] talks. I am confident that 27 to 28 of them can be taken up and this will really mean a privileged partnership,” the chancellor was quoted as saying by daily Milliyet.

Without guaranteeing an ultimate EU membership for Turkey, Merkel also stressed that the country’s accession negotiations remained “open-ended.” Since starting membership talks in 2005, Turkey has succeeded in opening only 12 of the chapters that candidates are required to complete in order to join the bloc.

Along with Germany, France is also a vocal opponent of Turkey’s EU aspirations. The two EU heavyweights believe that a vast, relatively poor country with a mainly Muslim population of 71 million has no place in Europe.

The thorny issue is likely to come up when Erdoğan visits France early next month. The Turkish prime minister has criticized French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s opposition to his country’s EU aspirations as illogical.

Merkel’s visit

Merkel will begin her talks in Ankara on Monday after laying a wreath at Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey. She will meet Erdoğan and opposition leaders before being received by President Abdullah Gül.

Erdoğan will host a dinner in Merkel’s honor Monday night before the German chancellor travels to Istanbul, where she will visit historical attractions, such as the Hagia Sophia museum and the Blue Mosque, on Tuesday. She will later address a panel hosted by a German high school and meet with religious representatives of the German community in Turkey.

Merkel will return to Berlin on Tuesday night after participating in a concert to celebrate the 2010 European Capital of Culture status shared by Istanbul and Essen, Germany. German State Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Integration Maria Böhmer is accompanying the chancellor as part of her delegation.

Turkey became a candidate country for EU membership following the Helsinki European Council in December 1999. Accession negotiations started in October 2005 with an analytical examination of the EU legislation.