Privileged partnership (Turkish: İmtiyazlı ortaklık) is the term coined by the German conservative party CDU for their model of the future relation between Turkey and the European Union, which falls short of full membership. In February 2004, Angela Merkel, then opposition leader, now chancellor of Germany, visited Turkey to present the idea, which was vehemently rejected by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish government.
The idea is now supported by former French president and head of the Convention on the Future of Europe Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
The term is also used in context with other countries, like when the Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos spoke out for a "privileged partnership, offering all the benefits of EU membership, without participation in the institutions" for Israel.
Turkey has utterly rejected the idea of a privileged partnership and finds that the EU must fulfill its obligation to the Turkish nation.
The details of what a privileged partnership relationship would entail have not been clearly defined. Usually, it's implied that it would involve mostly freedom in trade between the EU and Turkey. There are arguments that it could as well be a new kind of capitulation.
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