HAMBURG, Germany, Dec 17 (AFP) - The leader of the Turkish community in Germany threatened here on Friday that 700,000 naturalised Turks could boycott the conservative opposition in the 2006 general election.
Hakki Keskin said he would direct Turks with voting rights to boycott the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union (CSU), because they were campaigning against Turkey being offered full membership by the European Union.
The CDU wanted to see the EU stop at a "privileged partnership" with Turkey, although EU leaders agreed Friday to start negotiations with Ankara towards full membership, albeit with a series of strict conditions and a warning the talks could take a decade.
"I warn the conservatives against continuing their policy against Turkey and Turks in Germany after the Brussels summit," Keskin said, adding he would direct Turks "not to vote for these parties".
CDU leader Angela Merkel said recently that if her party came to power in the 2006 elections, it would try to influence the negotiations in a bid to prevent Turkey being offered the full membership which Ankara is demanding.
There are an estimated 2.5 million ethnic Turks in Germany, making it the EU's biggest Turkish population.
12/17/2004 15:01 GMT - AFP