AlHijjah 15, 1433, Oct 31, 2012, SPA -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected questions in Turkey about whether the European Union really wants the Muslim-majority country as a member, saying the 27-nation bloc is being "an honest negotiating partner.", according to AP. Merkel told reporters after a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday that the talks on Turkey's 25-year effort to join the EU would "continue regardless of the questions that still need to be clarified." On Tuesday, Erdogan told a political seminar in Berlin that Turkey might lose interest in becoming an EU member if it doesn't join by 2023. He has previously set that year - the centenary of the founding of the Turkish republic - as the year for Turkey to become a global economic and political power.
