Turkey suspicious of new EU president

ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The choice of Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as European Union president means Turkey is less likely to be accepted, a Turkish leader says.

Suat Kiniklioglu, a leader in the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP, suggested France and Germany wanted Van Rompuy as president because of his known anti-Turkish sentiments, The Guardian reported.

"This man has made it very clear that he doesn't want to see Turkey in the European Union," Kiniklioglu said. "What is even sadder is that he is making that argument on the basis of the supposed Christian values of the union. That's not the type of union we envisage. The values we envisage are of democracy, transparency, human rights and the rule of law."

Van Rompuy said in 2004 that Turkey "is not part of Europe and never will be part of Europe."

In 2004, the EU voted unanimously to begin the process of bringing Turkey into the union. But there has been little progress since then.