Turkey's top business association launches online petition against Berlin's resistance to EU talks

ISTANBUL

Turkey's leading business association has launched an online petition campaign urging German Chancellor Angela Merkel to step back from her resistance to opening a new chapter in the country's EU accession talks.

In a letter posted on the online petition website change.org, the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD) said the blocking of the chapter by Germany would "harm the Turkish people's democratic future in Europe."

"The EU should be part of the progress in Turkey. Blocking Turkey is not constructive. Let's be positive and creative," read the letter posted today by TÜSİAD's EU-Brussels representative, Bahadır Kaleağası.

"More Europe is good for Turkey, for Europe and for the world," the letter added.

The EU was set to open talks on Chapter 22 – on regional policies – next week, which would be the first new chapter in nearly 2.5 years. However, Germany's recent insistence on halting the negotiations has prompted a huge reaction in Ankara. EU Minister Egemen Bağış had linked Berlin's move to the campaign for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Germany, as Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) had expressed their rejection of Turkey's EU membership in their electoral program.