France cannot halt Turkey's bid to join the European Union, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said today, despite Paris's success in having the word "accession" deleted from a statement on Turkey's EU talks.
At French insistence, an EU foreign ministers' statement on the bloc's enlargement strategy on Monday omitted the words "accession" and "membership" in connection with Turkey.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy opposes Turkey's EU entry bid. "If France believes it can achieve this (stopping Turkey's accession) with the support of a few countries, it is mistaken," the state Anatolian news agency quoted Mr Erdogan as saying at a business reception that was also attended by EU ambassadors.
"Because Turkey remains and will continue to remain determined to press on along the EU road." Mr Erdogan accused Sarkozy of sending different messages when speaking to Turkey and when speaking elsewhere, and said such a style was not "chic".
Mr Erdogan, a keen soccer player in his youth, also said the EU could not change the rules of a match halfway through, a reference to Mr Sarkozy's efforts to persuade Turkey to opt for a "privileged partnership" with the EU instead of full membership.
Ankara began EU entry talks in 2005 but they have been advancing very slowly due to rows over Cyprus and human rights. Mr Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and several other countries such as Austria say Muslim but secular Turkey, with 75 million people, is just too big, too poor and too culturally different to become a full member of the 27-nation EU.
Mr Erdogan, a pious Muslim, said Turkey represents the 1.5 billion-strong Muslim world in its relations with the EU. "If the EU says 'yes' to an alliance of civilisations, it has to accept Turkey," he said. Next week, Brussels is expected to open negotiations with Turkey on two new "chapters" or policy areas -- health and consumer protection, and trans-European networks.