A major German politician says that Turkey should stay out of the European Union.
In an interview with the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, Wolfgang Schauble, vice president of the Christian Democratic Union, said that full membership should only be given to countries that lie within the European continent.
"Otherwise people will stop identifying with it," Schauble said. "And if so, Turkey, the vast part of which lies outside Europe, cannot belong to the union."
The CDU/CSU is expected to make large gains in the German election now scheduled for September.
Schauble said that negotiations with Turkey should only go forward if it recognizes the sovereignty of Cyprus and that the Ankara government must understand that the most likely outcome is a "privileged partnership."
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
