‘Brave Support’ from French President Chirac to Turkey

The Journal of Turkish Weekly
Dec 16 2004

French President Jacques Chirac in an interview to TF1 TV has said
that Turkey could join the European Union – if it complies in full
with entry requirements, and partial membership was not an option.
Chrirac said membership negotiations can be started in 2005.

President Chirac spoke after the European Parliament (EP) voted to
approve the start of accession talks. In their non-binding vote,
passed by 407 votes to 262, MEPs called on EU leaders to open entry
talks with Turkey “without undue delay”.

This week the EU leaders will meet with Turkish counterparts in
Brussels, and they will decide on Friday whether negotiations with
Turkey will start or not.

Mr Chirac stressed that the EU would benefit from having Turkey aboard.

“Does Europe, and particularly France, have an interest in Turkey
joining it?” he asked in a live interview on French TV.

“My answer is… ‘Yes, if Turkey totally meets the conditions we
impose on any candidate for our union’.”

Chirac: “Partial Membership is not an Option”

Mr Chirac suggested that partial membership for Turkey, as suggested
by some of his own supporters in France, was not an option.

“To ask a country like Turkey, a great country with a rich and long
history, to make a considerable effort to reach a risky or partial
result is not reasonable,” he said.

If Ankara met all its accession obligations, he continued, it should
not be turned away at the last moment.

“We will take a very heavy responsibility for history if, faced with a
people who tell us ‘We have adopted all your values, all your rules,
all your objectives’ ,we tell them, ‘Eh, no thanks’,” the French
leader said.

President Chirac’s clear support for Turkey is found brave by the
EU experts: “There is a strong opposition and manipulation against
Turkey in France. Extreme nationalists and religionists with extreme
Armenian and Greek lobbies do anything possible in order to block
Turkey’s membership. Under these curcumstances Chirac gave a vivid
support for Turkey’s EU bid. And this should be appreciated. Simply
a brave decision” said Dr. Selin Akyuz from the ISRO.

‘Meaningful’

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the vote as
“very meaningful” but warned that his country would walk away if
confronted by any “unacceptable conditions”.

‘Red Lines’

Earlier on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul set out
four “red lines” his country would not cross:

– Negotiations must have Turkey’s complete membership as the final aim

– Turkey must not be forced to extend diplomatic recognition to the
Republic of Cyprus

– The decision to start talks must not be conditional on subsequent
decisions by EU leaders

– There should be no special conditions imposed permanently on Turkey.

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