BBC: Turkey has urged France and Germany to back its bid to join the EU, rejecting calls for a special partnership rather than full membership.
"We will never give up," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in Brussels.
Turkey's EU accession talks are going at a glacial pace and risk suspension if Ankara fails to open its ports and airports to Cyprus this year.
France and Germany want to give Turkey a "privileged partnership" with the EU.
But Mr Erdogan insisted "our goal is full membership".
He also said it was "populist and wrong" to use Turkey's bid as an election issue.
Some right-wing parties opposed to Turkey's bid made gains in the recent European Parliament elections. >>> | Friday, June 26, 2009
