Germany Still Wary of Turkey's EU Aspirations

A week after the leader of Turkey’s new ruling party, Tayyip Erdogan, met German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, it’s now the turn of Turkish President Ahmet Sezer (photo) to pay his regards in Berlin and shore up support for his nation’s European Union bid.

Turkey is pushing the EU to name a date for starting negotiations on accession to the European Union at the Copenhagen summit next month.

The visit is especially important for Ankara, which sees Berlin as a key partner in helping it secure a place in Brussels. Germany is home to the largest Turkish population in Europe (2.5 million) and has maintained close relations with Ankara for decades.

German parties split over membership for Turkey

But despite those advantageous factors, the going will be anything but smooth for President Sezer.

Recent weeks have seen Germany’s main political parties sharply divided over whether a Muslim state of 66 million people should be permitted into a European Union that is largely Christian.

While the opposition Christian Democrats fear that admitting an Islamic country would rock the balance in what they see as Europe’s Christian heritage, Chancellor Schröder’s ruling Social Democrat-Green coalition government welcomes the idea and banks on the strategic advantage of future Turkish membership.

Conservatives see Turkey as "too different"

Speaking on Friday before a Christian Social Union party congress, former conservative chancellor candidate Edmund Stoiber (photo) said: "Europe is a community that is based on Western values. As a community of shared values, Europe has to deal with the question of its borders. These borders must be based on shared values, culture and history. Turkey’s membership would breach these borders."

Conservative German politicians argue that the cultural and religious differences between Turkey and the European Union are insurmountable.

Roland Koch (CDU), the premier of the state of Hessen, said in a television interview recently, "I believe Europe needs a constitution which is an oath to God -- that’s a European tradition. Of course, we can’t blame the Turks for holding a different view, but it shows that there are other traditions outside Europe and we mustn’t ignore that fact."

Greens and SPD say Turkey is "unique"

Claudia Roth (photo), chairwoman of the ruling Green party thinks that such an argument is "dangerous".

"If you define Europe as 'Christian,' that would also exclude millions, millions of Moslems who are already in the European Union," she said. "It’s the second-biggest religious group within the EU already."

The Social Democrats are instead trying to portray Turkey as an shining example of a unique Muslim state where Islam and modernity can go hand in hand.

"We in Europe see how Turkey proves that Islam and democracy can be reconciled in a society where state and religion are seperate. This is a great hope which we should support because it's a unique case," a foreign policy spokesman of the SPD said.

More problems for Germany with Turkish accession?

But away from the delicate question of European heritage and identity, other factors, too, have Germany’s political parties worried.

Germany’s conservative parties fear that Turkish membership would open the flood gates to a wave of many more Muslim immigrants to join families in German cities.

Turkey's failure to fulfill all criteria for EU membership on issues including its human rights record, the rights of its Kurdish minority and the Cyprus conflict, also remains a matter of concern for parties across the political spectrum.

Anti-Turkish rumblings across Europe

The hard-line stance against Turkey among Germany's opposition politicians has been echoed across Europe.

The current debate started after Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the head of the convent charged with drafting a European constitution, made controversial statements earlier this month. Giscard d'Estaing remarked that Turkey is not a "European country" and that it's accession would bring about an "end of the EU."