ANKARA - Linking Turkey`s European Union membership bid to a referendum in France on the EU constitution this weekend is a "very ugly and wrong" policy, Anatolia news agency quoted Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying Friday.
"We see here a situation where Turkey is used in (domestic) politics. This is very ugly and wrong. The vote is not about Turkey," Erdogan told Turkish journalists during a visit to Kazakhstan, Anatolia reported.
"We are very upset and amazed that Turkey is frequently being made an issue of debate," he said.
Erdogan declined to comment on the widely predicted "no" that French voters are expected to give to the EU constitution in the critical referendum Sunday.
"The decision of the French people will undoubtedly be a respectable one," he said. "It is not appropriate for me to make any assessment on that."
Turkey`s hopes of joining the EU have been clouded by uncertainty over the EU constitution, which is designed to prevent decision-making gridlock in the expanding bloc.
The French "no" campaigners count in part at least on public opposition to Turkey`s entry into a bloc in which French influence is increasingly waning.
In theory, an EU decision last year to start accession talks with Turkey on October 3 is irreversible since all EU states have signed up to it.
But if the constitution were rejected -- as forecast by consistent opinion polls -- the 25-nation bloc would be plunged into unprecedented crisis, and could spend years rethinking its overall strategic direction.
05/27/2005 08:50 GMT