Schroeder says Turkish EU membership talks would help security

BERLIN, Oct 9 (AFP) - Negotiations with Turkey over possible membership of the European Union could help make Europe a safer place, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in an interview to be published Monday.
"For me the strategic and security policy argument is decisive," he told the weekly magazine Focus.
If Turkey continued with reforms with EU membership in its sights "we shall be able to stabilise the country and establish contacts between the Enlightenment culture of Europe and fundamentalist Islam," he said, to make Turkey a "beacon for the other Islamic countries."
Turkish membership would represent "more of a security gain than a risk for the EU," he said, arguing that forecasts of "waves of immigration were exaggerated."
Germany is one of the chief backers of Turkish EU membership. On Wednesday, the European Commission said membership talks between Brussels and Ankara should begin, though Turkey's accession could still be many years off.