Cameron 'angry' over opposition to Turkish EU membership

On his first visit to Turkey since becoming British prime minister, David Cameron gave a compliment-laden speech to the EU hopeful, backing the country's desire to become a regional power and paying tribute to its relatively strong economy.

The UK has traditionally been very supportive of Turkey becoming a member of the European Union but Mr Cameron's speech was nevertheless notable for its implicit criticism of France and Germany for their oft-stated opposition to the poor and predominantly Muslim country ever fully entering the club.

"When I think about what Turkey has done to defend Europe as a Nato ally and what Turkey is doing now in Afghanistan alongside European allies, it makes me angry that your progress towards EU membership can be frustrated in the way it has been," he said.

"I believe it's just wrong to say Turkey can guard the camp but not be allowed to sit inside the tent," he added.

Mr Cameron said that Turkey's accession could help improve the EU's global standing, drive economic growth and influence Middle East security.

Turkey opened membership negotiations in 2005. But progress has been painfully slow both due to reticence on the part of key EU member states as well as its own refusal to honour a customs agreement with EU member state Cyprus, which Turkey does not recognise.

To date, 13 of the 35 legislative have been opened while eight areas have been frozen due to the Cyprus stand-off.

The laboured negotiations have frustrated both the Turkish population and the government and led some to speculate that Turkey, feeling spurned, is seeking to become a regional power instead of EU membership. Ankara does not deny the former but says it is still interested in being part of the EU.

Mr Cameron also criticised those who view "the history of the world through the prism of a clash of civilisations" and view Turkish EU membership as a threat because its Muslim population.

"They think Turkey has to choose between East and West and that choosing both is not an option," he said.

The polarised and the prejudiced were two of three type of opponents to Turkish EU membership suggested Mr Cameron. Protectionists constitute the third group.

The British leader also took up a theme that Ankara has been pushing of late - that the EU, with its many depressed economies, cannot afford not to have Ankara on board.

"I ask myself this: Which European country grew at 11 percent at the start of this year? Which country will be Europe's second-largest economy by 2050? Which country in Europe has more young people than any of the 27 countries in the EU? Which country in Europe is our number one TV manufacturer - and second only to China in the world in construction and contracting?" Mr Cameron said.

The speech however contained little criticism about human rights and democracy issues, asking Turkey only to "push forwards aggressively" with EU reforms. Human rights campaigners have long raised concerns about the rights of the country's Kurdish minority, while civil liberties groups note the country has still a long way to go to extinguish its military's interventionist approach to domestic politics.

While Mr Cameron's speech is important symbolically for Ankara, it is unclear whether Mr Cameron who intends to be the "strongest possible advocate" of its membership can change much on the ground in Brussels.

Each stage of the negotiations process, excepted to take several years, has to be agreed by all EU member states.