TURKEY MUST RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO JOIN EU

BBC News, UK
Sept 28 2005

The European Union parliament has backed plans to start talks on
Turkish accession, but insisted on a number of provisos before it is
allowed entry.

MPs insisted Ankara recognise the killings of thousands of Armenians
in 1915 as genocide. Turkey denies that the killings were systematic.

MPs also postponed a vote on ratifying Turkey’s customs arrangements
because of its refusal to recognise Cyprus.

Neither decision affects entry talks which are due to start on
3 October.

The negotiations, once started, are expected to take about 10 years.

The European Commission said the postponement of the vote was an
“own goal” by the parliament.

The Armenian killings have long been a taboo subject in Turkey.

Armenians, supported by 15 countries, including France, Switzerland,
Russia and Argentina, accuses the then Ottoman rulers of carrying out a
“genocide”.

Turkey disputes the charge, saying that a few hundred thousand died
and that the deaths occurred in a civil war in which many Turks were
also killed.

But Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan did condemn a Turkish
court’s decision to order the cancellation of a conference about the
killings which was due to have been held last week.

Vetoes await

Further talks about Turkey’s accession are set for Thursday to try
to resolve a deadlock over the question of the negotiating framework
for Turkish membership.

Turkey has been clear that it will not accept the option of privileged
partnership, which Austria is pushing to be inserted into the
negotiating framework; only full membership will do.

The BBC’s Jonny Dymond says that even if they get the framework they
want, the membership process will be a long and painful one.

This is partly because so much needs to be done by Turkey to adapt
itself to EU rules. It needs to absorb the 80,000 page long EU rule
book into its domestic law.

One member state has already boasted about the number of potential
vetoes it has during the negotiations process. There is also the
question of Turkey’s continuing human rights reform process.

Expectations

The European Commission has promised to monitor closely how Turkey
proceeds. If it is deemed to be slipping backwards in theory or
practice, then the commission will not hesitate to make its misgivings
public.

To add to all the difficulties, there is the question of public
expectations in Turkey.

Our correspondent says many Turks see the membership process as a
genuine negotiation, a process of give and take. But by and large,
Turkey has simply to do what it is told if it wants to join the club –
which for many is a sharp change in culture, he adds.