Agence France Presse — English
May 24, 2005 Tuesday 3:53 PM GMT

EU, amid growing clouds, bids to reassure Turkey

BRUSSELS

The European Union sought Tuesday to reassure Turkey that plans to
start membership talks this year remain on track, despite uncertainty
over the EU constitution and the political leadership in Germany.

The EU’s executive commission underlined that the decision to start
negotiations with Ankara on October 3, albeit depending on specific
conditions, had been taken by EU leaders at a summit last December.

“There has been a decision made by unanimity by the highest political
level in the EU … to start accession talks with Turkey on 3
October,” said Krisztina Nagy, spokeswoman for EU enlargement
commissioner Olli Rehn.

The offer was conditional on Ankara signing a protocol extending a
customs agreement with the EU to the bloc’s 10-member states —
including the divided island of Cyprus — as well as implementing a
package of legal reforms.

But the EU said there were no immediate concerns about these
conditions.

“The commission is doing its job in order to prepare for the mandate
it has received. We are doing our work. The Turkish authorities are
doing their work as well,” the spokeswoman added.

Turkey’s hopes of joining the currently 25-nation EU have been
clouded by uncertainty over the EU’s constitution, which is designed
to prevent decision-making gridlock in the expanding bloc.

Specifically French voters are threatening to reject the EU charter
in a referendum next Sunday, in part at least fueled by public
opposition to Turkey’s entry into a bloc in which French influence is
increasingly waning.

If the constitution were rejected — as forecast by consistent
opinion poll findings — the 25-nation bloc would be plunged into
unprecedented crisis, and could spend years rethinking its overall
strategic direction.

In theory last December’s decision on Turkey is irreversible,
whatever happens to the bloc, since all EU states have signed up to
it.

But speculation has been further fueled by the political turmoil in
Germany after Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s Social Democrats won a
crucial election at the weekend.

Schroeder has called for national elections to be brought forward by
a year — in a move which in theory could let in the opposition
Christian Democrats, who have far more reservations about Turkey’s EU
bid.

Turkey has put a brave face on the possibility of losing a staunch
supporter in Berlin for its EU application.

“Hopefully, we will start the negotiations on October 3,” Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul said Monday. “Any change in this is out of the
question as long as we fulfill our obligations and we are fulfilling
them meticulously.”

French President Jacques Chirac also intervened in the Turkey
membership debate Tuesday, but in the opposite sense from the EU
commission — arguing that a “yes” vote in the constitution would
make it harder for Turkey to join.

Turkey “still has a long way to go, even longer as the European Union
is preparing to take a new step in affirming its values” by adopting
the EU constitution, he said in a letter to Armenian activists.

Many of France’s 400,000-strong Armenians are opposed to Turkey’s EU
hopes. They have long protested about the mass killings of Armenians
under the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1917, recognized as genocide by
several countries.

“Every member state will be bound by it, whether in terms of
pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity,
equality between men and women (or) respect for minorities,” Chirac
wrote.