DAVID CAMERON says he is “angry” at the slow pace of discussions on allowing Turkey to enter the EU – and promised to lead its campaign for accession.
Putting himself on a collision course with France and Germany, who both oppose Turkish membership – and with similarly-minded members of his own party – Cameron said Turkey had defended Europe as a NATO ally, and deserved a far more expedited process.
Speaking to Turkish businessmen in Ankara on his first official visit to the country, he said: “I believe it’s just wrong to say Turkey can guard the camp but not be allowed to sit inside the tent.”
Cameron added that he would be Turkey’s ”strongest possible advocate for EU membership” and that “together, I want us to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels.”
The PM went on to say that Turkey had a major role to play as Europe’s representative in the Middle Eastern peace process.
Turkey has been in accession talks with the European Union since 2005 but has so far only discussed 13 of the 35 ‘chapters’ on which it needs to agree terms of entry.
A Eurobarometer poll taken when talks began showed that about a third of Irish people were opposed to Turkish membership.
It found that Irish people opposed to Turkish membership were likely to agree with the view that cultural differences were “too significant to allow for this accession”.
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