British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw expressed strong support Friday for Turkish membership of the European Union ahead of a decision on beginning formal talks on accession. "If you look at Turkish civilization, the contribution it has made to Europe, it is fundamentally a European nation and it needs to be in Europe," Straw told the BBC. The offer being made to Ankara by the E.U. was "very good news for the Turkish government", he told the public broadcaster, although he added he could not be sure whether it would be accepted. "We are winning the argument," Straw told the BBC in reference to the current summit on the issue in Brussels. And he singled out French Finance Minister Nicholas Sarkozy for criticism. "Of course, there are differences of view. I don't agree with Mr Sarkozy. He is wrong. Turkey is not to be compared with the Maghreb states of north Africa," Straw said. "Turkey is fundamentally a European country," he said. Prime Minister Tony Blair is championing Turkey's membership bid, and accession talks are set to begin in October next year, in the middle of Britain's E.U. presidency.
