France Alone on its ‘Privileged Partnership’ Suggestion

French newspaper Le Figaro wrote that Erdogan returned to Ankara having laid his concerns to rest. The newspaper also reported that the visit passed successfully and added, "Erdogan took guarantees from the top level that Turkey would start the negotiations without discrimination." The Prime Minister stated on his way back from Brussels that he expected to have positive results from the European Union (EU) summit about the negotiation process next week. Meanwhile, France remains alone in it efforts among the five biggest powers, with Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy, to offer "privileged partnership" for Turkey. Le Figaro emphasized that the proposal put forward by France had nearly no chance of being carried Determining that Erdogan expressed Turkey’s conditions and decisiveness explicitly during his visit, the French newspaper added, "Erdogan’s decisive message gained its result."

Erdogan met with EU Term President and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkanende, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt during his two-day Brussels visit. Erdogan disclosed that they conveyed Turkey’s expectations and objections towards the resolution draft for the summit, which will be held on Friday, during the negotiations and went on: "I believe that we will gain the expected result next week, because despite different approaches, we see that all are working in a positive direction. Friday will be favorable."

The Turkish Prime Minister also said in his speech, which will be publishe in German newspaper Bild am Sonntag today, that Turkey faced more strict conditions than other candidate states and he outlined the expectations of Turkey from the summit: "There is no other option but full membership. We cannot accept a new political demand beyond the Copenhagen Criteria. Negotiations should be opened without delay."