Bloomberg
Dec 15 2004
Turkey Urged by EU Parliament to Boost Democracy (Update1)
Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — Turkey should strengthen human rights, curb
corruption and limit the army’s role in politics to win European
Union membership, the European Parliament said in endorsing the
opening of talks to admit the bloc’s first mostly Muslim member.
The parliament in Strasbourg, France said today that EU membership
wouldn’t be guaranteed during negotiations with Turkey that may last
more than 10 years. Other possible outcomes include a “privileged
partnership” urged by politicians in EU nations including France.
“The Turkish authorities still have to adopt and implement further
reforms and put current reforms into practice,” the 732- seat
assembly said in a non-binding resolution. EU leaders will decide
when and under what terms to start entry talks with Turkey at a
two-day summit in Brussels starting tomorrow.
The parliament serves as a barometer of European attitudes toward
Turkey, which would transform the 25-nation EU by joining. The
country borders Iraq, Syria and Iran and its population of 70 million
people is larger than the combined population of the 10 mainly
Eastern European countries that joined the EU this year.
The European Commission recommended in October the opening of talks,
which may boost the Turkish economy and contribute to Middle Eastern
stability. The commission, the EU’s executive arm, also proposed an
“emergency brake” to halt the process should Turkey stray from the
bloc’s political and economic roadmap.
Timetable
Turkey pressed the EU’s national government heads to authorize the
start of talks with no new conditions.
“We don’t expect a condition we cannot accept, but if such a
condition is forced upon us, we won’t accept it,” Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters at Ankara airport today before
flying to Brussels. “We will put this thing in the refrigerator then
and move on with our lives.”
Erdogan is counting on the prospect of membership to boost foreign
investors’ confidence in the Turkish economy, helping bring down
unemployment and the costs of financing $220 billion in debt.
“The opening of negotiations will be the starting point for a
long-lasting process that by its very nature is an open-ended
process,” said the EU parliament.
Lawmakers expressed concerns about “hundreds” of reported cases of
torture in Turkey over the past two years, religious discrimination,
corruption that “seriously affects economic, political and social
life,” and the military’s influence over the government.
Cyprus
The parliament said it was also concerned about the presence of
30,000 Turkish troops in northern part of EU member Cyprus, divided
since Turkey invaded the Mediterranean island three decades ago.
The northern Turkish-speaking region, whose government is recognized
only by Turkey, remains outside the EU because the Greek-speaking
southern part rejected a United Nations-backed unification plan
earlier this year.
The EU assembly objected to Turkey’s refusal to recognize Cyprus.
This concern is a potential obstacle to the start of talks and was
echoed by Commission President Jose Barroso.
“If you want to become a member of a club, isn’t it normal to
recognize other members?” Barroso said in a parliament floor debate.
Turkey may resolve this problem by signing a protocol extending an
association accord with the EU to Cyprus, a Dutch diplomat told
reporters in Brussels. EU leaders will probably agree to start talks
in the second half of 2005, a German government official told
reporters in Berlin.
Germany, France at Odds
The prospect of Turkish membership has split the EU including
traditional allies Germany and France. Germany’s Social
Democratic-led ruling coalition wants talks to start next year with
membership as the sole goal, while France’s right-of-center
government wants a minimum one-year delay and a reference in the
negotiating mandate to a possible result falling short of accession.
A poll by market researcher Ifop for Le Figaro newspaper showed that
67 percent of French respondents and 55 percent of Germans oppose
Turkey’s candidacy. Ifop surveyed 4,813 people in Germany, France,
Italy, Spain and the U.K. from Nov. 25 to Dec. 3. The company gave no
margin of error for the survey.
Politicians including France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, the former
right-of-center finance minister who may run for president in 2007,
have expressed opposition to Turkish membership. They cite the
financial cost of accepting a nation where production per person is
about a quarter of the EU average and a loss of the bloc’s political
and cultural identity.
Unemployment
Turkey had unemployment of more than 10 percent at the end of 2003
and inflation topped 50 percent for 20 of the past 30 years. By 2025,
it would eat up about 16 percent of the EU’s 100 billion euro ($133
billion) annual budget, according to the commission.
With higher birthrates than EU countries such as Germany and France,
Turkey could also gain more voting clout in the EU than existing
members have.
EU parliament members who oppose Turkish membership failed to push
through amendments to the resolution mentioning the need for an
alternative to accession, Turkey’s “Asian” character and the EU’s
“Christian roots.”
Members concerned about human rights succeeded in adding an amendment
calling for a formal acknowledgment by Turkey of its responsibility
for the massacre of Armenians in 1915. The amendment calls on the
commission and the EU’s national governments to demand that Turkey
recognize the “genocide.”
Pressure Point
“We need to exert pressure and make sure Turkey knows what needs to
change,” said Dutch Conservative EU lawmaker Camiel Eurlings, who
steered the resolution through parliament. The assembly approved it
by a vote of 407 to 262 with 29 abstentions.
Turkey’s ties with the EU began with a 1963 trade accord that the
bloc suspended during subsequent periods of military rule in Ankara
and encompass a customs union created in 1995. Turkey formally
applied for membership in 1987 and was given candidate status in
1999.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Jonathan Stearns in the Brussels bureau at
or jstearns2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Catherine Hickley at chickley@bloomberg.net.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress