TURKEY’S hopes of joining the European Union suffered a double setback after the first official opinion poll on the issue indicated that a large majority of Europeans are opposed and a senior Austrian minister called for entry talks to be shelved.

The poll, carried out by the European Commission, found that 52 per cent of Europeans are opposed to Turkish membership and only 35 per cent are in favour. In ten of the fifteen pre-enlargement member states there is a majority against Turkey, with opposition running as high as 80 per cent.

The survey is embarrassing for Britain, which has championed Turkish membership while lecturing other governments on the need to reconnect with public opinion after the recent EU constitution referendum defeats in France and the Netherlands. Britain, as president of the Union, will chair entry talks with Turkey, which are scheduled to start on October 3.

In Austria, opponents of Turkey’s membership out-number supporters 80 per cent to 10 per cent. Opposition is 74 per cent in Germany, 72 per cent in Luxembourg and 70 per cent in France and Greece. More people are opposed to Turkey joining than to any other potential member. In Britain, a relative majority is in favour, with 45 per cent for and 37 per cent against.

The high level of opposition in France and Germany makes it more likely that Angela Merkel, who is expected to be the next Chancellor of Germany, and Nicolas Sarkozy, who is expected to be the next President of France, will stand firm against Turkish entry.

Britain has been the driving force behind Turkey’s membership effort. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who chaired a meeting yesterday of EU foreign ministers discussing Turkey’s membership, denied that Britain was being hypocritical by positioning itself as the champion of EU public opinion while pushing Turkish membership. He said: “Opinion on any one issue in the EU will vary. I am aware of the level of controversy about this in some countries.”

Austria and Cyprus raised doubts about Turkey’s membership, with Austria proposing that Ankara be offered an alternative to full membership. In a newspaper interview, Karl-Heinz Grasser, the Austrian Finance Minister, called for entry talks to be suspended. He said: “The negotiations must absolutely be adjourned. Turkey does not meet any of the criteria necessary to enter into the EU — neither economic, social nor political.”

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