Schröder-Balkanende: The Objective is Turkey's Full Membership

German P.M. GErhard Schröder and EU Term President Dutch P.M. Jan-Peter Balkanende talked about Turkey ahead of the December 17 summit of EU. Both prime ministers said that a negotiating date will be given in the summit to Turkey and its objective will be full membership, but the negotiations will take a long time.After their one-hour meeting, Schröder told a press conference that "We agree with Mr. Balkanende on beginning accession talks with Turkey. The objective is full membership and this target will not be made relative. A date will be given to Turkey but these will take long and will be open ended."  When reminded that Christian Social Unity Party's Chairman Edmund Stoiber had said that they will spend all efforts to prevent Turrkey's membership if they came to power in 2006, Schröder said that "Mr. Schröder usually goes beyond measure." Balkanende said that "We are working on a text acceptable to all and Turkey. We want 3 conditions to be accepted for this purpose. The talks with Turkey will aim at membership. A date will be given but they will be open ended." He said "We also discussed Cyprus. This issue is very important for Turkey. I contacted Athens and (Southern) Cyprus on the issue and talked with British PM Tony Blair." Â