Pan Armenian News

“OLD EUROPE” IS AGAINST NEGOTIATIONS WITH ANKARA

The potential leaders of France and Germany suppose that the dialogue on
Turkey’s EU membership is senseless.

“Negotiations on Turkey’s EU membership are senseless”, announced the leader
of France’s ruling “Union for a popular movement” party, Interior Minister
Nicolas Sarcozy in his speech in Paris. According to Sarcozy, the European
Union has “more urgent and important issues than that of negotiations with
Turkey. Thus, the second person in the French government has confirmed his
position and spoke out categorically against Turkey’s membership in the
family of European nations.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Of course, it does not follow from Sarcozy’s statement
that official Paris insists on the refusal to start negotiations with Ankara
on the conditions of Turkey’s EU membership. Sarcozy only states that he
considers negotiations with Ankara unreasonable and having no prospects. But
if the start of negotiations for Turkey is an end in itself, then no
problem. Negotiations may start but never finish. EU
Commission representative to Ankara, Hans Kretschmer has already stated that
if negotiations start they will hardly finish by the end of 2014. Before
that, Europe may change beyond recognition. It is quite possible that by
that time, the issue of Armenia’s EU membership will be already put on the
agenda.

Nicolas Sarcozy has always been against Turkey’s EU membership, but it is
the first time that he speaks out so definitely. Sarcozy’s current status
allows to suppose that his position is the official position of the
government. Even if it is not so, let us not forget in any case that he is
the most probable successor of Jacques Chirak. In case of success in the
2008 presidential elections his personal point of view will become official.
Sarcozy’s statement contains an important accent. He underlined that he
considered Turkey’s EU membership unacceptable, since Turkey “is the largest
country of Central Asia and not of Europe”. So, he is against Turkey’s
membership in the family of European nations not because Turkey has not yet
fulfilled all the set requirements, but because of the geographical factor.
It follows that Sarcozy supposes that Turkey cannot even aspire to gain a
place in Europe even if all the requirements are fulfilled. This
circumstance cannot but worry us, because the French minister’s point of
view which becomes more and more popular contradicts to our interests. The
problem is not in the fact that Armenia is also geographically located in
Asia and that with the same logic Armenia can also be deprived of the right
for a place in Europe. The thing is that there is a serious danger that
Turkey may become absolutely unpredictable and unmanageably aggressive in
case there is no stimulus to follow European values.

Hopes that Ankara will agree to be satisfied with the status of a
“privileged partner” are not so big. Rejeb Erdogan has recently stated that
he is not going to agree to that. Nevertheless European leaders, including
Nicolas Sarcozy continue to state that “privileged partnership” is the
maximum of what can be offered to Turkey. In the same spirit was also the
statement of the head of Christian Democratic Union – Christian Social Union
of German Bundestag. The leader of the parliamentary majority has clearly
called to refuse to start negotiations with Ankara that were planned for
October. It should be noted that the head of CDU-CSU is not just the leader
of one of the political parties, but is a person that represents a political
force which according to forecasts will win in the upcoming elections. This
means that like in the case with Nicolas Sarcozy, we deal with “favorites”
that may soon be at the controls. The future leaders of the two most
influential countries of “Old Europe” are categorically against Turkey’s EU
membership. In case of victory, those people will rule until 2010-2015.
During that period of time, Turks will have no chances at all. Maybe this
was what the EU Ankara representative meant saying that the negotiations on
Turkey’s EU membership would last at the least until 2014.

It is likely that the negotiations with Ankara will start in October as it
was planned during the last year’s EU summit. This was confirmed by the
president of EU Commission Jose Manuel Barroso. But in the situation formed,
the negotiations will hardly achieve any success.

15.06.2005, “PanARMENIAN Network” analytical department

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress