EU ambassadors meet last minute to clear obstacles ahead of Turkey talks

By CONSTANT BRAND
.c The Associated Press

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) – EU ambassadors meet Thursday in an effort to
overcome differences that threaten to derail the start of Turkey’s
formal EU membership negotiations – with opposition from Austria
appearing to be the biggest obstacle.

Only days before the scheduled start of talks in Luxembourg on Monday,
new strains have increased tensions with Turkey.

The European Parliament, frustrated over Turkey’s refusal to recognize
EU-member Cyprus, voted Wednesday to postpone a vote to ratify
Turkey’s customs union with the EU, a requirement of membership. The
lawmakers also called on Ankara to recognize the 1915-1923 killings of
Armenians as genocide, which Turkey vehemently denies.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately dismissed the
nonbinding European resolution on the extremely sensitive Armenian
issue, saying, “It does not matter whether they took such a decision
or not. We will continue on our way,” according to private CNN-Turk
television.

The membership talks will be a milestone for Europe and predominantly
Muslim Turkey, which has been knocking on the EU’s door since 1963. EU
leaders agreed to open accession talks with Turkey last year.

The ambassadors are working to overcome the final disagreements
because the 25-member EU must agree unanimously on a negotiating
mandate to present to Turkey at the talks. Failure would lead to a
rupture in already tense relations between Ankara and Brussels.

Austria says its people – and many others across the bloc – do not
support full membership for Turkey and is demanding that Ankara be
given the option of privileged partnership rather than full
membership. Turkey has already rejected anything less than full
membership talks.

Austria is also linking the Turkey talks with its wish to see the EU
do more to review Croatia’s now-frozen efforts to join the
bloc. Vienna argues that membership for its Balkan neighbor will help
stabilize the region.

The Croatia talks were frozen earlier this year after the EU said
Zagreb was not fully cooperating with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in
The Hague to hand over a top indicted war crimes suspect.

Britain, which holds the rotating EU presidency, is loath to link
Croatia’s EU bid to talks with Ankara. But Croatian Prime Minister
Ivo Sanader said he would be in Luxembourg on Sunday to meet with EU
officials to try to restart the talks, which were frozen in March.

Diplomats said emergency foreign ministers’ talks would be organized
on Sunday if ambassadors fail to sway Austria.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw pressed his EU counterparts
Wednesday not to turn their backs on Turkey, and to allow full entry
talks to begin on time.

“It would be a huge betrayal of the hopes and expectations of the
Turkish people and of Prime Minister (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan’s program
of reform if, at this crucial time, we turned our back on Turkey,”
Straw said.

Turkey reiterated Wednesday that any shift from earlier promises on
full EU membership negotiations would be unacceptable.

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said this week there was
support in Europe for Vienna’s demand that Turkey be given a special
relationship rather than full membership.

09/28/05 20:10 EDT