Westerwelle extends support for Turkey's EU membership bid

In an interview with Germany's Passauer Neue Nachrichten newspaper published on Saturday, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said there were diplomatic efforts underway to reopen EU membership talks with Turkey in the first half of this year. "We need to get new momentum in the negotiating process. If we aren't careful, the day will come when Europe's interest in Turkey is greater than Turkey's interest in Europe."