EUROPE DECIDES TURKEY’S FUTURE

Azg/arm
18 Dec 04

Baucher: We Recognized the Terrible Tragedy that Happened with the
Armenian Community in Anatolia

Jose Manuel Barroso, chairman of EU commission, emphasized that the
leaders of 25 EU member countries that gathered in Brussels will vote
for opening the negotiations with Turkey in the issue of its entry
to EU, Novosti agency informed.

“The European Union has opened its door to Turkey. No obstacle can
occur on this path at the last moment,” Barroso said, adding that
the issues related to the full membership, including the issue of the
Armenian genocide, will be discussed during the future negotiations.

If a group of EU member states is for fixing concrete deadlines for
opening the negotiations with Turkey, the rest are less optimistic. A
high-ranking German official said in the interview to France-Presse
that Berlin expects that Turkey is suggested to open full membership
negotiations at the congress and not an issue of “special cooperation.”

Joschka Fischer, German foreign minister, considered Turkeyâ~@~Ys
membership to EU a desired one. “We will not only solve the issue of
Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership but also the issue of its modernization,”
Fischer said, adding that Muslim Turkey, meeting the commitments
required for EU membership, can serve as a good example for other
countries of the Middle East.

According to Reuters, Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schussel is
the most known pessimist in the issue of Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership
to EU. Jacques Chirak, French President, announced on Wednesday,
Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership to EU would meet the interests of France
and Europe, on the other hand, he said that each of the 25 EU member
countries can put a veto on that decision.

According to Mediamax, in response to the question about the
Armenian Genocide, as well as the position of the USA towards the
dispute unfolded in the context of Turkeyâ~@~Ys membership to
EU, the official representative of the US State Department said:
“We recognized the terrible tragedy that happened to the Armenian
community of Anatolia during the last years of the Ottoman Empire.”

In reply to the question whether the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide should be a precondition for Turkeyâ~@~Ys entry to EU,
Richard Baucher said: “The State Secretary announced several times
during the last week that the Europeans should solve all these
issues. We believe that Turkey has covered a long path to keep in line
with the criteria required for the EU membership, and the Europeans
should take an independent decision.”

On December 16, TurkishMilietstated in its “USA Recognizes Armenian
Genocide” article that Colin Powel, US State Secretary, had a telephone
talk with Gul, Turkish foreign minister, and showed interest about
the latest developments around the EU membership negotiations.

By Tatoul Hakobian

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