EU Parliament Calls for Talks With Turkey

By CONSTANT BRAND
.c The Associated Press

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) – The European Parliament urged European Union
leaders Wednesday to open membership talks with Turkey as soon as
possible, but it also said Ankara should carry out more democratic
reforms and move toward recognizing Cyprus.

The European Parliament, meeting in Strasbourg, France, voted 407-262,
with 29 abstentions, to pass the resolution, which is nonbinding but
nevertheless likely to influence leaders on the eve of a historic
summit in Brussels on Turkey’s membership application.

The resolution calls on leaders to “open the negotiations with Turkey
without undue delay.”

During their two-day summit, the 25 EU leaders are expected to approve
opening membership talks with Ankara sometime next year.

Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, also said the
talks should begin immediately, even though Turkey has not met all the
requirements.

“In 10 years, Turkey won’t be the same Turkey as today … and
certain fears that exist today can be put aside,” Barroso told
France-2 television station.

“I believe this is the moment,” Barroso said, adding that Turkey has
made “an enormous effort to come join the European Union” and its
membership “would be very positive for Europe.”

The parliament urged Ankara to meet demands for a “zero-tolerance”
approach to torture, which the legislature says is still being carried
out by authorities in Turkey.

The resolution also said the opening of negotiations would
“presuppose recognition by Turkey” of Cyprus, which joined the EU in
May.

It urged Turkey to acknowledge “the genocide perpetrated against the
Armenians” nearly a century ago. Turkey has been accused of killing
as many as 1.5 million Armenians during a 1915-23 campaign to force
them from eastern Turkey. Ankara vehemently denies this.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the parliament
vote.

“This decision is very important. … There are still many issues
against (Turkey) but despite that, it is very meaningful,” Erdogan
said in Ankara.

Erdogan, meanwhile, reiterated that Turkey won’t hesitate to say no to
the EU if the bloc imposed unacceptable conditions on starting
membership talks with Turkey.

Also Wednesday, EU governments debated the merits of bringing Turkey
into the EU but also reflected on lingering misgivings – notably in
Austria, Denmark, Slovakia, the Netherlands and France.

The 25 leaders will likely agree to open membership talks without
setting a deadline on when the negotiations should end. Many say they
could last up to 15 years.

12/15/04 14:07 EST

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress