Agence France Presse — English
September 28, 2005 Wednesday 3:42 PM GMT
EU lawmakers back Turkey talks, but demand ‘genocide’ recognition
STRASBOURG
The European Parliament issued Wednesday a stern warning to Turkey to
recognise Cyprus and a “genocide” of Armenians, days ahead of the
start of start of EU entry talks with the huge Muslim country.
While giving cautious backing to the opening of European Union
membership talks with Ankara next Monday, the EU lawmakers’ demands
underscore nagging reservations in the EU about the country one day
joining the European club.
EU leaders gave Turkey a green light in December to start talks. But
strains flared after the country issued a declaration in July
reaffirming its refusal to recognize the government of Cyprus.
Turkey has also come under pressure to recognize a “genocide” against
Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during World War I, a highly
sensitive issue for Ankara.
A text adopted by MEPs said the EU legislative assembly “calls on
Turkey to recognise the Armenian genocide” and that it “considers
this recognition to be a prerequisite for accession to the European
Union”.
Armenians say that up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered
in mass killings under the Ottoman Empire, but Ankara denies that the
Ottomans committed genocide against Armenian subjects.
Turkey’s refusal to recognise EU member Cyprus has so far proved the
main stumbling block to the opening of talks, which could last for 10
to 15 years even if all goes well.
In the adopted text, MEPs stressed “that the rapid normalisation of
relations between Turkey and all EU member states, including Turkey’s
recognition of the Republic of Cyprus, is a necessary component of
the accession process”.
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 EU parliament’s motion, which will not delay the scheduled
opening of the entry talks, received the backing of 356 members of
parliament while 181 voted against and 125 abstained.
In a debate, the head of the European People’s Party, the biggest in
the parliament, Hans-Gert Pottering, voiced reservations about
opening negotiations amid concerns over Turkey’s record on human
rights and respect for minorities.
“We know that torture is still ongoing and if that does not stop,
then we should be prepared to break off or suspend negotiations,” he
said. “We cannot turn a blind eye to these abuses and infringements
on human rights.”
Greens party leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit said that the debate over
Turkey had been tainted by racism towards Muslims.
“Not everyone who is against Turkey is a racist, but the people who
are against Turkey are sometimes riding or can surf on a wave of
racism”, he warned.
Speaking to the MEPs ahead of the vote, British Europe Minister
Douglas Alexander, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency,
tried to allay fears about the costs of absorbing the relatively poor
country.
“The negotiations with Turkey will be the most rigorous yet,
reflecting lessons learnt from the previous wave of enlargement. They
are also expected to take many years to conclude,” he said.
Amid ongoing unease among some member states about starting the
talks, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned that it would be a
disaster if the EU were suddenly to slam the door on Turkey’s bid to
join the bloc
“It would now be a huge betrayal of the hopes and expectations of the
Turkish people…. if, at this crucial time, we turned our back on
Turkey,” he told the Labour Party’s annual conference in Brighton,
southeast England.