THE German Foreign Minister, Mr Klaus Kinkel, said yesterday that Turkey's ambitions to join the European Union would not he rejected but that Ankara will have to wait for EU membership.
"Turkey belongs to Europe. The Turkish train remains on the main track, it will not be put on the side track," Mr Kinkel told a news conference in the Turkish capital.
Me said Ankara had a host of problems to sort out before being accepted into the European club.
"Turkey will not be able to become a member of the European Union in the near term ... because of human rights, the Kurdish question, relations with Greece and certain economic matters," he said.
Ankara has threatened to veto the planned expansion of NATO if it does not get a promise of EU membership. Leading European Christian Democrats, angered by the Turkish threat, said at a meeting earlier this month that Turkey was unfit to join the EU, partly because of its Muslim culture.
Mr Kinkel earlier traded harsh words with Turkey's Islamist Prime Minister, Mr Necmettin Erbakan, over Ankara's complaints that it has lost out in a trade pact with Europe. Mr Kinkel was close to calling off his visit at the last minute because of media reports quoting Mr Erbakan as saying he should come to Turkey with his head bowed.
"No European will have to bow their head to Turkey in shame" Mr Kinkel told German reporters on the first day of his official visit to Turkey.
Mr Erbakan told MPs of his Welfare Party on Tuesday that Turkey should be treated with more respect internationally. He blamed Europe for what he said were losses because of a customs accord with the EU that went into effect at the start of 1996.
EU exports to Turkey have surged under the accord, while Turkish exports to the EU have changed little.
Millions of pounds in EU aid to Ankara under the Customs Union have been blocked by Turkey's traditional enemy Greece over disputes in Cyprus and the Aegean, and by EU states concerned about Turkey's human rights record.
Turkey has been an associate member of the EU since 1963 and regards it as unjust that other states, including former east European adversaries, are likely to get into the EU before it.
The Turkish army chief of staff, Gen Ismail Hakki Karadayi, has appealed for Athens and Ankara to work at improving relations.
"We must overcome our differences," Gen Karadayi was quoted as saying at a party commemorating Greek independence day on Tuesday. "I am convinced that our partnership in the long term is very important," he added. "We must not pass on our problems to future generations . . . I think millions of Turks and Greeks share my point of view," he was quoted as saying.