Deutsche Presse-Agentur
December 17, 2004, Friday
17:47:07 Central European Time
Turkey agrees to E.U. entry talks after Cyprus deal
Brussels (dpa) – Turkey and the European Union on Friday clinched a
long-sought deal allowing Ankara to begin membership talks with the
bloc next year – but only after a diplomatic fudge resolved the
fraught issue of Turkish recognition for Cyprus.
“The European Union (E.U.) has opened its door to Turkey,” said
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in a move ending 40
years of Turkish efforts to get a road map to join the Union.
E.U. leaders agreed to open accession negotiations on October 3, 2005
aimed at full Turkish membership.
“We have been writing history today,” said Dutch Prime Minister Jan
Peter Balkenende who holds the rotating E.U. presidency, adding:
“Turkey has accepted the hand we offered to them.”
British Prime Minister Tony Blair was also upbeat: “It’s a good day
for Europe, for Turkey and for the wide world,” said Blair who
strongly backs Turkish E.U. membership.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a more cautious
view, saying: “We have done it … the process will be difficult and
full of obstacles.”
He admitted Turkey was not “100 per cent satisfied.”
The sense of achievement over the landmark deal was soured by discord
over Cyprus which came to a head earlier Friday.
A further major damper on the mood was a surprise announcement by
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel – who was never enthusiastic
about Turkey – that his country would hold a referendum on Turkish
E.U. membership.
“It is important that the Austrian people have their say,” said
Schuessel. Polls in many E.U. countries, including Austria, Germany
and France currently show a majority opposing Turkish admission.
French President Jacques Chirac, who also intends to hold a national
referendum on the issue, struck a note of caution by insisting that
“negotiations do not mean accession”.
“We cannot foresee the results…,” Chirac said, adding that E.U.
states could at any time suspend talks if there was slippage in
Turkey’s reform efforts.
The disagreement over Cyprus was settled by a finely-tuned diplomatic
fudge under which Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan only
agreed verbally to recognise the Greek Cypriot part of the island
before accession talks begin next year. Erdogan refused to sign any
document on this question.
European Union (E.U.) leaders welcomed Erdogan’s commitment to do so,
and – in a move to make things official – they promptly added his
words as an annex to the summit’s final communique.
Under the hard-won agreement, Erdogan promised that before Turkey
begins E.U. accession negotiations, he will sign an extension of
Ankara’s customs union agreement to include Cyprus, which joined the
E.U. as part of a group of 10 new members last May.
Balkenende admitted this was “not formal legal recognition” of Cyprus
by Turkey. But E.U. diplomats say this would amount to de facto
recognition.
This was denied by Erdogan who said: “It in no way means the
recognition of Cyprus.”
Most Turks already feel their country has made massive efforts to
meet Cyprus reunification demands. Both Turkey and the self-styled
state of Turkish northern Cyprus backed a U.N. blueprint for
unification last April. But the deal was torpedoed by a referendum
held in Greek Cyprus.
Turkey presently only recognises northern Cyprus and not the
internationally-recognised Greek Cypriot southern part of the island.
The deal to open talks with Moslem Turkey is a major turning point
for the E.U. which until now has been a mainly Christian club.
Turkey faces a huge task in meeting E.U. standards and European
Commission chief Barroso said his message to Turks was simple: “This
is not the end of the process, this is the beginning.”
Erdogan’s much-praised reforms are seen by the E.U. as just a start
and Ankara’s lengthy “to do” list includes major improvements in
political and economic structures.
E.U. leaders say Turkey must make additional effort to meet the
bloc’s “Copenhagen Criteria” which include strict standards for human
rights, minority protection and rule of law.
More challenging for Erodgan are Europe’s calls for what many in
Turkey will see as a social revolution.
Women’s rights, religious freedom and difficult historic questions
from Turkey’s past, including the fate of Armenians during World War
I, still need to be addressed.
Countries such as France have officially declared the killing of up
to 1.5 million Christian Armenians in 1915 under the Ottoman Empire
to have been a genocide. This is strongly denied by Turkey which says
far fewer Armenians died and that this was part of the normal course
of war.
“The process of E.U. construction is based on dialogue and
recognition of past errors,” said France’s Chirac, adding that the
Armenian issue would undoubtedly figure in the French referendum. dpa
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