German Merkel moves to keep Turkey from EU

BERLIN, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- German Christian Democratic Party head Angela Merkel is trying to create a coalition to keep Turkey from becoming a member of the European Union.

Merkel sent a letter to conservative politicians across Europe, calling for a united front against Turkey's bid to enter the EU, German newspaper Die Welt reports. Among the letter's recipients were Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schluessel, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker, Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende, Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Lopes, Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis and Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts.

Merkel has proposed offering Turkey a "privileged partnership" with the European Union rather than a full membership. She praised Turkey's recent reforms in her letter, but said the European Union would be overwhelmed if it tried to take Turkey in as a full member.

Merkel and others have said Turkey's large and growing population, which might eclipse Germany's as early as 2020, mean the poor, Muslim country would place too much economic and cultural pressure on current EU states if it were admitted to the union.

The EU Commission will issue its recommendation in October on whether or not membership negotiations should begin with Turkey. European heads of state and government will make their final decision on the matter in December.