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Turkish PM's Visit to France Fails to Boost Ties

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  • Turkish PM's Visit to France Fails to Boost Ties

    World Markets Research Centre
    Global Insight
    April 8, 2010


    Turkish PM's Visit to France Fails to Boost Ties

    BYLINE: Grace Annan



    Yesterday, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended his
    official visit to France. The climax of his visit was a meeting with
    French president Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss, among other things,
    Turkey's bid to the European Union (EU), and the two governments'
    diverging stances on sanctioning the Iranian state. Sarkozy upholds
    that Turkey should be offered a privileged partnership instead of
    full-blown EU membership, regardless of Turkey's entrance date.
    However, Erdogan remains opposed to this offer. As French minister for
    EU affairs Pierre Lellouche stated, France and Turkey "agree to
    disagree".

    Significance:Franco-Turkish diplomatic ties are not progressing
    significantly. Erdogan did, however, manage to commit Sarkozy to an
    official visit to Turkey in 2011, when France takes over the helm of
    the G20. The big issues remain EU membership, the governments'
    diverging stances on the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians during the
    First World War, and Turkey's role in Asia, which drives a wedge
    between the two countries on Iran's nuclear programme in particular.
    The highly mediatised "Season of Turkey" failed to bring about closer
    diplomatic ties, despite Turkey's efforts (seeFrance - Turkey: 7
    October 2009:). Rather, business may do the trick: Erdogan would like
    to see Franco-Turkish trade volumes increase by 50%, or 15 billion
    euro (US$20.04 billion), in 2012. For all its frustration, the Turkish
    government needs France on its side for political reasons--notably EU
    membership and Turkey's zero-conflict efforts in the Middle East--and
    to boost Turkey's economy. The Turkish government is therefore likely
    to continue its dialogue with the French government regardless of
    Sarkozy's comments on Turkey's EU membership bid.
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