Agence France Presse — English
September 25, 2005 Sunday 1:33 AM GMT
Tensions high as Turkey’s EU membership talks approach
by Lorne Cook
BRUSSELS
Just a week before it is due to start long-awaited EU membership
talks, Turkey’s relations with the bloc are under new strain and
there is still no guarantee they will even go ahead.
Despite weeks of wrangling, European Union ambassadors cannot agree
on a negotiating framework for the aim and scope of the talks and
they only have one meeting before the whole process is slated to
begin on October 3.
With time fast running out, relations between Ankara and Brussels
have been characterised by increasingly hostile rhetoric and more is
likely to come this week at the European Parliament.
Britain, the current EU president, maintains that progress has been
made but diplomats say Austria refuses to cede ground until the
framework refers to a “privileged partnership” with Turkey, rather
than full membership.
“I would find it grotesque that membership negotiations are being
started with Turkey and at the same time Croatia is left waiting
outside,” Austria’s conservative Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said
earlier this month.
Croatia’s own drive to join the EU, which hinges on its cooperation
with the UN war crimes tribunal, is gaining momentum and one EU
diplomat has said that “some sort of signal would not be a surprise”
on October 3.
Turkey’s place in Europe was again questioned three months ago after
French and Dutch voters rejected a planned EU constitution, in part
over concerns about absorbing the relatively poor mainly-Muslim,
though secular, state.
Ankara aggravated its case on July 29 when, while signing an
extension to a customs accord to include the 10 newest EU members, it
issued a declaration that its signature did not amount to recognising
member state Cyprus.
Turkey has steadfastly refused to endorse the internationally
recognised Greek-Cypriot government since its troops occupied the
island in 1974 in response to a Greek-engineered coup.
The declaration sent the EU into a diplomatic spin.
The presidency struggled to draft a counter-declaration, but the
members, including Cyprus, finally agreed that Turkey must recognise
the Nicosia government before it joins; some time after 2015,
perhaps.
As the Union debated what position to take, Ankara grew impatient and
vented its frustration in terms not found in the EU’s diplomatic
dictionary.
“After everything we have done, they are still asking whether
accession talks should begin or not,” said Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan. “To raise certain questions that have no pertinence
is not worthy of international diplomatic ethics. It is rude.”
But a Turkish court decision to ban a conference last Friday on the
massacre of the Armenians under the Ottoman Empire was met with some
of the firmest language heard at the European Commission in months.
“We strongly deplore this new attempt to prevent the Turkish society
from discussing its history,” a spokeswoman said. “We consider also
that the timing of this decision … looks like yet another
provocation.”
With October 3 closing in, the negotiating framework is the major
hurdle.
But European parliamentarians are also set to debate Ankara’s case on
Wednesday, with the EU ambassadors meeting on Thursday, before
officially adopting the customs accord.
At issue is whether the declaration means Turkey’s real intention is
not to fully implement the accord, given also that it has a standing
ban on Cypriot ships and aircraft using its ports and airports.
The power of the assembly to block Ankara is negligible but the
debate will focus wider attention in the mainly Christian bloc at a
very important time.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress