Duitsland wil verder met onderhandelingen Turkije (en)

BRUSSELS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel i has backed France on re-starting EU accession talks with Turkey.

Speaking in her regular, weekly podcast on Saturday (23 February), before going on a two-day-long visit to Turkey on Sunday, she said: "I think a long negotiating path lies ahead of us. Although I am sceptical, I agreed with the continuation of membership discussions. We are engaging in these in an open-ended manner … In recent times, negotiations stalled somewhat and I am in favour of opening a new chapter in order to move forward."

Turkey began EU entry talks in 2005.

But the process stopped in 2010, after France and Cyprus, which remains locked in a 40-year-old frozen conflict over the Turkish-occupied northern part of the island, blocked 11 out of the 35 so-called negotiating chapters.

The past two years have seen the European Commission accuse Turkey of trampling on human rights and Germany speak of a "privileged partnership" instead of EU accession.

They have also seen Turkish politicians accuse the EU of Islamophobia and threaten to join Asian-oriented clubs, such as the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, instead.

Meanwhile, popular Turkish support for EU entry has dropped from over 70 percent to around 30 percent.

Merkel's comments come amid an improving climate in relations, however.

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius i earlier this month said he is ready to unblock talks on the regional aid chapter.

And Cyprus on Sunday elected a new President, Nicos Anastasiades, who, back in 2004, showed willingness to come to terms with Turkey by backing a UN peace plan on the frozen conflict.

For his part, Germany's EU commissioner, Gunther Oettinger i, also caused a stir by telling a think-tank event in Berlin last week the EU will one day "crawl to Ankara on their knees to beg the Turks" to join.

His sentiment was shared by German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle, in diplomatic words.

"If we aren't careful, the day will come when Europe's interest in Turkey is greater than Turkey's interest in Europe," he said in Germany's Passauer Neue Nachrichten newspaper on Saturday.

Merkel began her trip on Sunday by visiting German soldiers at a Nato anti-missile defence base in Kahramanmaras, 100km from the Turkish-Syrian border.

She is due to meet Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan i on Monday.

The Nato unit was stationed in Turkey after Syrian shells hit Turkish villages in a border region which has become a de facto base for the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA).

EU talks aside, Merkel assured Turkey that, as a Nato ally, "it is important to show to people living on the Turkish side that we are ready to protect them and to give a clear signal to those who try to export the Syrian conflict to Nato territory that we won't let that happen."

She noted some people feel "bewildered" that Nato has not intervened inside Syria as well.

But she added that even minimalist intervention, such as giving weapons to the FSA, could "intensify ... bloodshed."