Turkey chafes at exclusion from EU celebration

"It would have been meaningful, in terms of demonstrating once again the unity of the European family, if Germany had invited candidate countries," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a short statement.

Leaders of the 27 member states will attend a gala concert and dinner, street parties and a short summit meeting at which a Berlin Declaration on the bloc's achievements and future is to be signed.

Turkey and Croatia are in negotiations to join the European Union; Macedonia has official candidate status; and other western Balkan states, Serbia, Bosnia and Albania, are waiting in the wings.

But EU enlargement has become unpopular in some older member states, especially in France, where elections are scheduled for his spring, and Austria and Germany.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany is opposed to Turkish membership in the EU, though she has also pledged to respect previous agreements between the bloc and Ankara.

Asked about Ankara's statement, a German government spokesman said: "This is a celebration of the members of the European Union. No candidate countries were invited, whether it be Turkey or others."

An EU diplomat in Ankara said the decision was not intended as a snub but reflected the EU's preoccupation with its own internal divisions, including over the wording of the planned anniversary declaration.

Turkey, a relatively poor, overwhelmingly Muslim country of 74 million people, began EU entry talks in October 2005, but faces long and difficult negotiations.

Last December, the EU suspended talks in 8 of 35 "chapters" or policy areas because of Turkey's refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from Cyprus, an a EU member and a country that Turkey does not recognize. Reuters

/The International Herald Tribune/