Chirac rejects ‘third way’ for Turkey
by Lara Marlowe in Paris and Derek Scally in Berlin
The Irish Times
December 16, 2004
FRANCE: President Jacques Chirac last night excluded the possibility
of offering Turkey an alternative to full EU membership. At the same
time, he sought to reassure the French public that regardless of the
outcome of negotiations, they “will have the last word”.
The French right proposes a “privileged partnership” between the EU
and Turkey instead of full membership, and Mr Chirac’s entourage had
alluded to the possibility of a “strong tie” between Turkey and the
EU in the event that Turkey does not fulfil criteria for membership.
But speaking on television last night, Mr Chirac categorically rejected
a ‘third way’ of dealing with Turkey’s application. “To ask a great
country enriched by a long history to make such considerable efforts to
arrive at uncertain or partial results is obviously not reasonable,”
the Mr Chirac said. “We would bear a very heavy responsibility
vis-a-vis history if we said ‘no’ to a people who say, ‘We adopt all
your values, all your rules’. They would never accept it. They are
a proud people who are conscious of making tremendous efforts.”
The French foreign minister, Michel Barnier, attracted attention in the
National Assembly on Tuesday by referring to the Turkish “genocide”
against the Armenians, noting that a French law passed in January
2001 recognised the genocide, which happened in 1915. Mr Barnier
previously used the word “tragedy”, which is preferred by Ankara.
The French government has long feared that next year’s referendum on
the European constitutional treaty could be muddled by the question
of Turkish accession, and by domestic opposition to Mr Chirac.
“France has always been an engine of European integration,” he said.
“To continue, she must say ‘yes’ to the EU constitution . It is an
important question that must not be hijacked by considerations that
have nothing to do with it.”
Meanwhile, Germany’s former Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, said
yesterday he didn’t think Turkey would ever meet the accession
criteria. Dr Kohl attacked what he called European leaders’ “unfair
and dishonest” courting of Turkey to win votes in the short term and
said the political union could not survive beyond accepting Romania
and Bulgaria.
“Mr Schroder wants, above all, to win elections and hopes to win
sympathy among Turks who are eligible to vote in Germany,” said
Dr Kohl.
Chancellor Schroder’s spokesman, Mr Bela Anda, said the government was
bewildered by the former chancellor’s opposition to Turkey’s EU hopes.
Mr Anda said Mr Schroder’s position was consistent with the position
of all German chancellors since 1963, when the issue of Turkey’s
possible EU accession was first mooted.
Government advisers said they were confident of a deal being reached
to open accession talks with Turkey at the summit which begins today
in Brussels.