TURKEY:A MAJORITY of Turks are in favour of joining the EU, according to a new opinion poll, which reverses the declining support in Turkey for accession.
The poll, by the Ankara-based Metropoll Strategic and Social Research Centre, showed 62 per cent in favour of joining the EU, while 27 per cent were against. It comes as attitudes in some member states harden against the prospect of Turkey joining.
Last week the French lower house of parliament voted to amend its constitution, requiring a referendum in France for countries joining the EU with more than 5 per cent of the union's population. Turkey has a population of 71 million, while Ukraine's is 46 million. The EU's population is almost 500 million.
The amendment, which is seen as blatantly targeting Turkey but could also include Ukraine, will need the approval of the French senate and of three-fifths of both houses of parliament.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, which takes over the EU's six-month rotating presidency next month, restated his opposition to full membership for Turkey last Friday when he referred to its "special case".
"I believe Europe must have borders, as this is the condition for a real political Europe, not just an economic unit," he said.
Opposition to Turkey's membership is also strong in Germany, Austria and Greece.
The pace of membership talks has been slow since the EU agreed to kick-start them in 2004 and last week EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn blamed Turkey.
He said its continued refusal to open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels was stopping member states from opening talks on various policy areas. The EU could not be "indifferent" to political problems in Turkey, where the country's chief prosecutor is trying to ban the government party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), for undermining the secular nature of the state, he added.
But Turkey's foreign minister, Ali Babacan, said on a visit to Brussels last week that opposition among member states to his country's accession was wearing "down the enthusiasm to carry forward reforms".
Support for EU entry was high in Turkey but began to decline after 2004. In spring 2006 a poll showed just 44 per cent believed EU membership would be a "good thing", while in spring 2007 that increased to 52 per cent.