The European Union is threatening to scrap its renewed membership talks with Turkey, after having rejected the largest Muslim country in the past. Germany is blocking the efforts to revive the talks, partly because of the Turkish government handling of the protests that swept the country recently, EU sources told Reuters.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who has been advocating for letting Turkey into the union, a position rejected so far by Chancellor Angela Merkel, said he was hoping for an agreement, despite all the objections.
“We are on a good path,” he told the broadcaster ARD, although he did not expect a decision this week. “We are working on this,” he said.
If accepted into the EU, Turkey will enjoy the rare pleasure of bailing out the ailing economy of its next door neighbor, Greece, as well as the quickly disintegrating Spanish economy.
Still, the Turks are prepared to make a big show of their insult, should the EU, pushed by Germany, were to reject them once more in talks this coming Wednesday.