Updated: MP’s comments are ‘childish and foolish’ – Turkish minister

(Adds comments by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando) Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s statements on Turkey not being culturally European are “childish and foolish”, according to Turkey’s chief EU negotiator. Dr Pullicino Orlando was quick to reply on his Facebook site this morning saying "If I'm 'childish and foolish', I'm in good company". He said that the European People's Party, Angela Merkel and 70 per cent of German citizens, Nicolas Sarkozy and 75 per cent of French citizens were also against Turkey being accepted as a member of the EU for the same reasons he put forward. Dr Pullicino Orlando said that Turkey's chief EU negotiator had an uphill battle due to his country's abysmal human rights record, notwithstanding the fact it had been a member of the Council of Europe since 1949. "I wouldn't waste my time on puerile name-calling if I were in his position," Dr Pullicino Orlando said. In Malta for a two-day visit last week, European Affairs Minister and chief negotiator Egemen Bagis told The Sunday Times (see interview on opposite page) Turkey was trying to join the EU and “not a union of Christians”. “If this gentleman thinks Malta is a member of a Christian club he is...